Escape from Hell
by Do Fairies have tails
Summary: Takes place when Erza escapes the hell of the Tower of Heaven, but as hope was fading away, a certain someone came to save her and enlightened the little hope she had left. Watch how Erza goes on with her new life, through this story. ErzaxNatsu pairing, rated M for violence and language. OOCness since it's not about the original FT storyline but one created by me.
1. Chapter 1 - Broken Heart

_**Escape from Hell**_

**A/N : This is my first story, and I'm also a beginner in the writing field so please forgive me if my story isn't well built or something like that. The story that I write is only for my personal's and other people's enjoyment. The story will contain romance, action and adventure ( I think I'll need training for the fighting scenes as I really don't know how to write one ). **

**Enjoy the story and please leave a review ! :) **

Chapter 1 – Broken heart

All she think of is to run away from this horrifying place, where she was being enslaved and tortured. So she ran as fast as she could, never once looking behind her, despite that her body was bruised, dust recovering her from face to toe and cuts were more than noticeable. She was tired, exhausted and she wanted to sleep, hoping that tomorrow she'd wake up and realise that was just a real bad dream. But this wasn't. And she knew that this would be her only chance of escaping this hellish place, so she kept on running, trying her best to ignore all the screams echoing inside the building. All that mattered now was to escape, even though she felt bad for her friends for leaving them, but eventually they'd understand her feelings.

She saw a ray of light going through a door ajar, and her hopes suddenly perked up to the idea of being free. She pushed the door open, and what she saw left her wide-eyed with an open mouth : burnt bodies littered the beach, probably from the dead former slaves who were just gotten rid of, like if they were nothing. All Erza felt now was that she was completely disguted by these people's actions, wondering how people can be that mean toward other people... Her fist clenched in anger trying to contain the anger an rage she was now feeling for the tyrans that took away her parents, along with the inhabitants of the towns they destroyed. She wanted revenge. She quickly snapped out of it though, as she heard someone shout :

-"Come on guys, go get her ! We can't allow someone to leave that place !"

Her eyes went wide. She never wanted to go in that tower again. So she began to run again at full speed, searching for a way to get out of here. She marched on sharp stones, making her feet began to bleed from the aggressive materials that littered the beach along with the bodies she so desperately wanted to ignore.

Indeed the smell coming from the bodies was unbearable, which is why she covered her nose with her palm. However that didn't stop her from running, trying to find a boat. Eventually, she found one, making her want to scream in joy but knowing it'd reveal her position to the tyrants if she did so, she restrained from doing that. She ran to the boat, and when she reached it, she saw it was in a pretty bad shape.

_'If I wanna get out of that place, better not complain of what I have now'_, she thought to herself quickly.

She climbed on it, and heard the wood squeak supporting her light weight which sent a shiver down her spine, but shrugged it off and summoned 2 swords from the earlier fight, knowing now that she had magic capabilities. She rowed the boat as fast as she could, ignoring her body screaming at her to just rest, the magical energy just a few seconds ago increasing the sensation of tiredness. But she has a will a few people have and just kept on going, no matter the consequences afterwards. All she focused on at the moment was getting away as far as possible from this place. As she rowed more and more, she slowly but surely see the island fading away from eyesight which made her smile in contentment, yet she felt sadness beginning to overwhelm her as she thought about the persons she has befriended there.

_'Milianna, Sho, Simon, and... Jellal, I-I'm s-sorry...'_ and soon her body began to shake violently, tears forming in her eyes (**A/N : Let's say she's still has her two eyes, she's suffered enough already. **). Thoughts of them cheering her up kept haunting her mind as she remembered their confidence that one day they'll be free and go on. That was persons who'd always put some hope in your heart when you don't have any anymore. That was thank to them that she was able to smile somehow. And now she felt like she left them. Not like she had a choice, but still she left them behind.

At these thoughts, she couldn't help but let the tears fall down her face, hugging herself to both comfort and protect her from the cold wind, making goosebumps appear on her skin as she continued to cry, the thought of betrayal and loneliness finally got the better of her. Eventually she fell in a pitiful sleep, tears still streaming her face as she faced herself for another bad night.

_**In Erza's dream **_

_**She was back in her early ages, before she was enslaved, before everything goes insanely wrong. Erza was in her bed, giggling at the sight of his father, whose name was Christian, making odd gestures to her, like sticking his tongue out, or tickling her to the point that she was pleading him to stop which made her father smile even more at the sight of the scarlet haired little girl, he and her mother gave birth to. And then a shout came from downstairs : **_

" _**Hey the dinner's ready, come you two while it's still warm ! ", they heard Erza's wife.**_

"_**Come on, let's go downstairs meet your mom, I'm sure she wanna see that lovely face of yours", he said to Erza with a smile and a peck on her cheek. **_

" _**Okay! Let's go then! But I'm not gonna walk by myself, you'll carry me on the way to the living-room!", she replied, climbing on her father's shoulders who pouted : **_

"_**Hey, aren't you able to walk by yourself, Erza ?!"**_

"_**I am, but if you don't want mom to know about you know-what, you have no choice but to carry", she replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a smirk plastered on her face. **_

_**Oh he knew too well that look, being the husband of Erza's mother, Angelica. **_

"_**You look like too much your mother", he grumbled his breath, only to be pinched on the shoulder by her so-sweet daughter. **_

"_**Come on, slave, I won't ask twice!", she shouted at him, her voice laced with false authority and humor.**_

_**That made Christian laughed good heartedly, but then remembered to play being the hurt person so he continued : **_

" _**O-Okay, Majesty, s-sorry to have m-make you wait so long..", he stuttered with false submission, his smile betraying the sincerity of his words. **_

_**And then here he goes, carrying little-Erza downstairs, who was on her part doing everything possible to disturb him, partially because she wanted to tease him but mostly because she wanted to get payback from the previous tickles she suffered from him. **_

_**Angelica was finishing putting the plates and the cutlery at their places when she heard her husband coming down the stairs, with Erza laughing happilly on his shoulders. She smiled at the sight of the two, seeing them that happy made Angelica happy too. She and her husband always cared for Erza like she was a treasure, and now she was glad that Erza has become such a smart girl. She didn't realise she was holding her breath, until the need for air became overwhelming. She let oxygen fill her lungs as she breathed again, looking lovingly at the two in front of her. **_

"_**Ah, I see you've finally come to eat the meal with me", she said, a sarcastic smirk never leaving her face. **_

"_**It was her fault!", the husband began but soon was interrupted as he looked into Erza's eyes, her gaze telling him to not push it any further if he didn't want his little secret being known by Angelica. **_

"_**What were you saying, darling?" , Angelica urged him, enjoying to put him in a difficult position. **_

"_**Err... N-Nothing, Angy, nothing really.", he stuttered to her, blushing madly and muttering something incoherent for the two female in the room. He put Erza down as she went for her seat, ready to eat. **_

_**Angelica just loved seeing him like that, blushing madly in embarrassment, the incoherents mumblings and the scratching of his head. She smiled at him, walked over to him and whispered in his ear: **_

"_**You know, I think I loved that little pout of yours, we should try, Erza and me, to embarrass you even more, so I will enjoy the sight very often..", she winked at him, making him blush even more as she knew it'd embarrass him more and went next to seat next to Erza who was giggling, her hand on her mouth, mocking her father. She smiled at her and dropped a kiss on her forehead, which made Erza smile, pleased to the feeling of her warm and soft lips on her forehead. **_

_**Angelica smiled softly at her daughter before turning at Christian, who was standing still, his eyes never leaving hers. That was until she decided to speak once again : **_

"_**Darling? What about eating our meal ? And once we're finished, I'd like you to sweep the carpet because of the drool you left on it". To say that Christian was embarrassed was an understatement. He was blushing a deep shade of red, who was matching perfectly with her daughter's scarlet hair. **_

_**Erza now was laughing out loud, and nodded at Angelica's comment : **_

"_**We are wicked, aren't we, Erza ?" **_

" _**Oh yes, you are Angy, but her daughter is like her mother I guess.. So I shouldn't blame her", Christian responded while grinning. **_

_**Christian's reply made everyone grinning again, and with that they started to eat. **_

_**The meal was much quieter than before, but Erza's father really can't help but make some ramdom jokes which will always lighten the mood and made everyone laugh. **_

_**The meal ended without much trouble, except for the jokes Christian made and everyone laughed, whether to mock or just because it was funny, he didn't know and didn't care. **_

_**What he cared about for the moment was that he and his family was happy and that's all that mattered. **_

_**'Time for Erza to go to sleep', Angelica thought as she looked at the clock above the door entrance. **_

"_**Come on Erza, let's go to bed", Angelica said softly but with enough authority to make her daughter comply about her requests. **_

"_**Okay..", Erza sighed and walked alongside her mother to her room but not before making a goodnight kiss on her father's cheek. **_

_**Erza, with her mother, walked up the stairs, brushed her teeth in the bathroom, made a shower and finally got to bed, feeling slightly exhausted. She entered her room, still with her mother. She changed in her pink pijamas by herself and then take her clothes to give them to her mom, who was surprised to see her daughter grow up so quickly. Needless to say, she is very proud of her. **_

_**She then got in her bed still under her mother's gaze, admired how well she handled herself on her own. Eventually, she snapped out of it and came to her daughter bedside to look at her lovingly, she reached out and caress her face and earned a loving smile from her daughter in return. She speaked to her in a soft motherly way : **_

"_**I am so proud of you, Erza and I know that Daddy is very proud too. We've always wanted to have a daughter but it simply never came. Now I know why, you may not be born very early since the beginning of my relationship with Christian but you are definetely worth the wait, Erza. You'll become a great person, I am sure of that.", she said confidently to her, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. **_

_**Erza's smile only widened when she heard that and reached out to hug her mother tightly. **_

_**She only found one answer to say : " I love you, mom and daddy too. You are great parents, even though you never had a child before. I could never have wished better", her eyes sparkling with love and contentment. **_

_**Angelica could only smile softly at what she said. But now was the time to sleep, so she leaned in, dropped a long motherly kiss on her forehead before leaving and tell her : **_

" _**Goodnight, Erza, have sweet dreams" **_

" _**Goodnight, mom, have sweet dreams too", she answered with closed eyes as sleep was quickly taking over her. **_

_**Angelica cast one final glance toward Erza before closing the door and went to her room to sleep as well. **_

_**Erza was sleeping peacefully, like nothing can disturb her from her sleep. She had that happy smile, when you know you have people who loves you and you love them back in return. **_

_**Though, something happened, loud screams were hearable outside of the house, people screaming in fear of being killed by a certain someone. Outside the house were people running away for their lives as a group of about 200 people were burning the houses in their path, and it looked they... were emprisoning kids for who knows why. The people running were whether burned from the inferno going on in the town about killed by the group who were none other than mages with a mission : collect all the children to build the Tower of Heaven so they can resurrect Zeref, the dark wizard of all times. **_

_**Erza was beginning to stir as she felt that her room was getting warmer, until she woke up and rubbed the sleep off her eyes, only to see that her room was lighting with flames almost everywhere. She began to panick as she looked frantically for an exit without being harmed. She looked everywhere and saw that there was no exists so she tried to think of a way to come out and reach her parents and eventually found one, she used an automatic ventilator to blow away the flames from the door which worked and then come out to go in her parents' room. As the corridor wasn't engulfed in flames, she easily went to her parents' room entrance but once opened the sight in front of her left her dumbfounded : the room was lit by fire, the curtains were turned to shreds and the carpet was nothing but burnt material but what caught her eyes was her parents' bed lit by the same fire as well. Realisation hit her as she screamed, tears falling down her face : **_

"_**MOMMY, DADDY !" **_

-Back in the present

Erza jolted awake, her body sweating and panting heavily. It was the first time, the dream was enjoyable first, and then becoming the worst of her nightmares. She felt like they were next to her, smiling to her and telling her how much they loved her. But after, she lost them again. She asked herself if escaping the tower was really a good idea, as now she was lost in the middle of the sea, alone. Her body began to tremble again, as sadness and grief took over again. She cuddled herself for warm but to no avail, the wind was really freezing.

_'What's the point to escape if now I'll die in the middle of the sea?'_, she thought to herself desperately as she began to sob, the cold making it even harder to steady herself, wearing only a cloth to cover her private areas.

Eventually she regained her composure, telling herself that if she reahes the coast, she may be able to find help. So she summoned again the same 2 swords she'd summoned a few hours ago and began to row again, ignoring the aggressive feeling of the cold on her skin as goosebumps appeared again. She rowed as quickly as she could, but then realised that she was hungry and thirsty. She looked around her, looking on the boat if there was anything edible or drinkable. After, 10 minutes of searching, she found nothing to eat, as she expected, but that didn't keep her from rowing, and she used the sea water to try to appease her thirst, ignoring the salty taste of the water as the liquid ran down her throat. That did appease her somehow, if only a little.

And during 2 hours, there she was, rowing the boat and drinking sea water when she felt that the need to drink was unbearable. She was sweating profusely and she felt that her muscles were numb from the constant effort she makes to make the boat go on, but she quickly went desperate as all she as seeing was the sea everywhere. Erza felt hopeless, like if the sea will become her grave. Her parents were gone, so were her friends. She was all alone, on her own and right now she needed someone to support her, to tell her that everything's going to be okay but no one was here. She was on her own. Tears began to well up in her eyes again, and she screamed in desperation, hoping deep in her heart that someone would hear her but not expecting someone to come as in the sea the chances were very thin.

Never would she have thought that someone heard her, though.

-In the forest, near the coast of a city.

Loud snores can be heard in the forest, they were so loud in fact that no one dared to approach that noise, thinking that the people was haunted. Everyone but one person. That person was walking in the forest, running toward the source of the noise. He had pink hair, with brown eyes, and a triumphant grin was plastered on his face, as if he accomplished something. He's wearing white pants that stopped at his knees, a black jacket that left most of his chest uncovered, revealing his muscular body despite his young age. He also has a white scarf wrapped around his neck.

When finally he reached the source of the noise, he yelled :

" Dad, I'm already done", with still his triumphant smile on his face.

The snores immediately stopped when the creature heard Natsu's voice, and opened its eyes. They were in a deep green color, with dark pupils. The creature in front of Natsu was none other than the the fire dragon, Igneel, who's teaching Natsu the fire dragon slayer magic. Igneel was a splendid creature, about 3 meters high, his skin was covered by red scales on his back, and white skin on his chest, and upper legs. He has two marvelous wings, and a long dark red tail. His mouth opened to reveal sharp teeth, which would be able to tear Natsu's body apart if he wanted to. But being Natsu's teacher and foster, he didn't. Instead, he talked in a deep voice :

"Good, Natsu. Now come here, I'm sure you want to eat something", Natsu nodded with a smile on his face.

Igneel hunted some deers, and burnt them with his fire breath, without overburning them. So here it was, ready to be eaten which made Natsu lick his lips in hunger. He tore open the meat with his teeth, swallowed at a rate even Igneel was surprised of. No normal human beings would be able to eat at this rate without choking himself. Somehow Natsu was immune to that, and he just kept on tearing open the fresh burnt flesh of the deer and swallowing it like if he hasn't eaten for months.

Natsu ate during what seems like hours to him, when in fact it was only during a quarter of an hour. He laid on the ground, his stomach satisfied of the amount of food it received.

Igneel gave the equivalent of a smile to Natsu, who ignored it as he was too exhausted to answer him. That is when they both heard a scream, which sounded far away but yet their enhanced hearings allowed them to pick that sound of total despair, which Natsu's head rise, his eyes full of questioning :

"Igneel, what was that ?", he asked.

"Haven't you heard ? It was someone's scream, what I can tell you is that it was a girl, probably a child." , Igneel answered him.

"Well then, let's save her!", he shouted at Igneel who was startled by his sudden outburst.

Eventually, he regained his compusure and asked :" Why do you care, Natsu ?", yet Igneel was a caring foster father but he didn't understand the value of other people's life except Natsu's of course.

This made Natsu even more angrier:

"Haven't you heart ? That voice was desperate! That person whoever she is, needs to be saved! Why have we such capabilities if we're not using them to save other people's life! Please, Igneel fly us to her", he almost pleaded as if this girl was the thing he cared for the most.

Igneel, caring for Natsu like a real father, understood his point. That's why he nodded his head, and Natsu happily climbed on his back and soon they were flying at a rather low altitude.

"I think that what we heard came from the sea, Igneel!", Natsu shouted at him, as the wind blew his face.

"I know Natsu, don't worry.", Igneel responded rather calmly, as he already spotted the girl on a boat, sad and alone, in the middle of the sea thanks to his very enhanced vision. He flew in that direction, startling at the sudden change of speed. He asked him:

"Have you spotted her ?", sensing his hopes perk up at the idea of being able to save someone.

"Yes.", came the simple reply but it was enough for Natsu to smile broadly.

With Igneel's speed, they reached the boat in a matter of minutes. To say the girl was sad was an understatement. No, she was truly desperate, crying with all her might. She didn't even seem to notice them come closer to her as all she focused about was herself and her pointless attempt to escape the Tower that took everything from her.

_'She is not only desperate, but very sad and hurt too'_, Natsu thought sadly. He was puzzled as to why a girl as beautiful as her can be in the middle of the sea, crying out the sadness in her heart, without anyone to take care of her.

_'Doesn't matter right now, what I see is that she needs help'_, Natsu thought with determination. She didn't know the girl, but he felt like he never wanted her to cry again, he wanted to protect her.

He shouted at her to get her attention :

"Hey miss!", he shouted like that several times without succeeding in getting her attention. Her tears just won't stop. However when Igneel growled in annoyance, Erza looked up slowly with teary eyes and yet the sadness in her heart was still overwhelming but what she saw left her wide-eyed. A giganti creature was there, right next to her, flapping his wings with force to allow it to fly. But what caught her attention was the little boy with the pink hair, who was shouting at her to come, and stretching out his hand for her to grab it. She was puzzled. Who were they ? She can tell by only looking at them tells her that the creature was a dragon and that the boy on its back wasn't a normal person either, as they seem to have heard her, despite being in the middle of the sea. She didn't care, she was grateful for them, they are the persons who saved her from her nightmare, who offered a chance to live, to start over again. A tear rolled down her cheet, but this time out of joy and gratitude. She grabbed his hand, with a smile on her cheek, a sincere one that she hasn't been showing for a long time. He smiled back at her and pulled her on Igneel's back. She was amazed by the little boy's strenght, he just pulled her up like she was nothing. She didn't care though, they saved her, that's what mattered to her. She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear Natsu ask her what was her name. So he bumped her gently in the shoulder which made her turn to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

Smiling, he asked again :" What. Is. Your. Name?", he urged her.

Looking away in the horizon, she answered absentmindedly with a sad look on her face :"My name's Erza. And yours?"

"My name is Natsu Dragneel.", he replied, wondering why she was looking away from him. But then, realized :"But don't you have a family name ?"

She shook her head in a negative gesture to show him she doesn't have any. At least that's what she wanted him to know. Of course she had a family name, but mentioning that will only bring more pain in her heart, so she decided against it.

On the other hand, Natsu was surprised. How can someone not have a family name ? It was an unanswered question and he wanted to find an answer, but seeing Erza's sad look, he figured that ask her that will trouble her even more. So instead he told her :

"If you don't have any family name, then I'll find you one.", he seemed deep in thought as he searched for a family name that would fit her well. At first, he had no idea but after several minutes of searching, he eventually found one, which he thought was cute. He smiled triumphantly, happy for his achievement.

"I think I have one that will suit you perfectly", he smiled at her. Erza looked at him questioningly, and asked him in a voice laced with curiousity:

"And what would that be ?"

"Scarlet. I think it matches really good your scarlet hair and I find it rather cute", he replied grinning like a Cheschire cat, making Erza chuckle at his stupidity, but after hearing Natsu's suggestion about a family name, she found that she liked it. She smiled at him and came closer to him, to sit next to him as she responded still smiling :

"I like it, Natsu. Thank you.

Natsu returned the smile as he replied : " You're welcome, Erza Scarlet."

They looked at each other, enjoying each other's companies, when Erza's eyes began to well up with tears and in matter of seconds she was hugging him, crying fresh tears of joy, and telling him through her tears:

"T-Thank you, for saving my life..", she couldn't help but stutter as she gripped on him tightly, as if she never wanted him to let go. She was so grateful for that boy and the dragon even though he seemed scary. She owed them her life.

Natsu was startled but smiled anyway, enjoying the closeness between him and that beautiful they succeeded in saving, and replied glancing at her with soft eyes:

"Anytime, Erza. By the way, you should thank Igneel, the dragon you're sitting on, he was the one who confirmed that I heard a scream far away from the forest. And I must add something : you're a beautiful girl, Erza, even with a bruised body. Also a question went unanswered, what happened to you, Erza?", he asked her, puzzled, wanting to know the truth.

Erza knew there was no malice in his words, she just only met him and by an unknown feeling, she knew that she could trust him with anything, so she told him what happened : the Tower, how the people who kidnapped her killed her parents, and how she was enslaved, tortured and battered when she complained about being tired and finally she told him how she escaped that Tower, the boat, the sea water being her only mean to drink something, everything. When Erza was finished, she let the information sink in Natsu's head. Natsu was puzzled, so puzzled that he can't put a word on how sad he's feeling for her right now. He couldn't believe that a child, had to go through that much to get freedom back, in fact he just thought that no one had to go through that, and most of all he couldn't believe that people can hurt other people so much. He just doesn't understand, and don't even try to, as he knew that never he'd want to be mean with other people. Okay, he lived with a dragon mostly during his childhood, learning dragon slayer magic, but yet he understood that humans were kind toward each other, not the other way around. He was sad for her, and he didn't try to hide it as he hugged her again, feeling this was the right thing to do to her, and also because he just didn't know how to express his feelings. Hugging seemed the right decision though, as he felt her hugging him back, pleased by the closeness and the warmth coming from Natsu's body. But her enjoyment only lasted a few minutes when Natsu stated with determination in his voice and eyes :

"Never would I let someone hurt you again, Erza.". Erza was startled by how determined he sounded, that look and determination just told her that he wasn't kidding with her, she concluded he was being sincere in his words so she smiled widely at him.

Igneel saw the two of them chatting together as if nothing happened several minutes ago. And then, he saw Natsu's eyes, glistening from happiness, his broading smile at Erza and the slight blush of his cheeks when he talked to her. He could also tell that his heart was beating faster than usual, his enhanced senses allowing to do so. Igneel smiled at the sight, the look plastered on his face was looking like the one he himself had when he found Natsu in a lost place.

_'He may not realize it yet, but he likes her. But there's something else than that... Could it be he's falling for her'_, he thought in confusion, Natsu being in love at such a young age is quite unusual, let alone that he only met her like several minutes ago. He quickly shrugged it off though, the best course of action being that he'll have to question him later about that. He had this feeling that Natsu will ask that Erza stay with them. Though that may not be a good idea, because he can sense a lot of magical power in her. She'd had a tough time these past years and he guessed that she needed people to love to allow her to get over her sadness and her past memories. And he has the feeling that Natsu will take care of that. Igneel then realized that having two people to teach magic to wasn't really a bother to him, as he always thought that Natsu was a little lonely, he admitted to himself that he wasn't really the conversational type, and he felt that Natsu needed that, or most of all he needed to be loved, a feeling that dragons don't fully understand. But he'll try to understand, for Natsu.

He continued to fly toward the coast, when suddenly he felt something, or rather he smelt something like a dark aura of a great amount of magic power empesting the air. His wide went wide, as he recognised the owner of that awful magic power, fear gripping him to the core.

He'd recognise this smell among one billion : this was the Dragon of Apocalypse : Acnologia.

He heard his roar, making the earth tremble, sending a shiver of fear run down his spine. The fire dragon, one of the strongest dragons in Earthland was scared and Natsu sensed it :

"What's happening, Father ?" he asked worriedly. He knew that Igneel being scared only meant that there was a real threat on their whereabouts, and that made shiver in fear.

Igneel's voice was barely above a whisper :"Acnologia is here, Natsu. I-I can sense him coming.." , he stuttered.

Natsu went wide-eyed, fear beginning to take over as his body began to shake. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, which mae his head look up, only to see a very confused Erza :

" Natsu, who is Acnologia ?", she asked confusedly, yet with a bit of worry in her voice.

When he answered her, his voice was all shaky from the fear that overwhelmed him :

"H-He i-is the Dra-a-gon of Apocalypse...", he stuttered with fear.

Erza gasped in shock and fear, a dragon even more dangerous ? That sent shivers throughout her whole body, her breath raged as her moment of peace was already finished.

Igneel saw the coast and flew up toward it at full speed, the cold wind hitting his face. He arrived, landed on the sand and shouted at the two on his back :

"Natsu, Erza, get off me, now !", Natsu stared back at him in shock, trying to understand what Igneel was up to.

"What are you gonna try to do, Igneel ?!", he shouted in fear.

"I'm going to save you both, now get off me!", he roared angrily in an attempt to scare Natsu and make him go away without second thought but he only gripped his scales tighter, and responded with tears in his eyes :

"I'm not letting you go, I don't wanna lose you", he cried out, trying to reason him which made Igneel escape a breath of frustration. Seeing that Natsu nor Erza aren't going to get off him, he shook them both off of him and they landed on the sand harmlessly. Without second thought, he pushed himself up in the air with inner legs and flew away from them, trying to get the dragon's attention as far as possible from them.

Natsu could only watch him go away, unable to do one thing to help him as he didn't have the ability to fly. Tears ran freely down his face, and he shouted in pure sadness and despair :

"**FATHER !" **

**A/N : And here is the first chapter, hope you guys enjoyed it, and please tell me what you think about it through a review or a PM ! :) **


	2. Chapter 2 - I'll always be with you

**Escape from Hell**

Chapter 2: I'll always be with you.

The cold wind of the North of Fiore was brushing gently against the trees of the vast forest of Magniola, carrying the leaves of each one of them in a swift and peaceful motion. The forest seemed quiet, tranquil and most of all beautiful, like there was absolutely nothing going on. That moment of peace ended soon though, as a gigantic creature was flying at full speed barely above the peaceful forest, making the trees shake violently from the powerful beatings of the creature's wings, as if they were cowering in fear. The gigantic creature was none other than Igneel, the brave and strong fire dragon, who was flying as far away from where Natsu and Erza were as possible, as he went straight forward where the sick scent of Acnologia was coming from. His eyes showed a strong determination, but out of confidence of winning against the most powerful dragon of all times but out of the confidence that Natsu and Erza will be safe thanks to him, which is bringing some warmth to his rapidly beating heart. He felt sad that they will have to live on their own though, but knowing Natsu, he knows that he'll handle himself somehow along with his new-found and beautiful friend and that was more than enough for Igneel to focus on his goal. So he flew even faster, his speed reaching an unbelievable level that it'd be hard for a normal person to follow him with normal eyes. But Igneel didn't care as long as he was doing what he thinks is right for the sake of the boy he adopted, who turned out into a smart, yet childish, boy with a big heart.

Eventually, the sick scent of complete darkness became stronger, alerting Igneel that he was nearing him. He took a look behind him, to see that the coast was out of sight which made him release a dragon like sigh of relief and satisfaction he haven't realised he was holding. His relief was short lived however, as he heard a loud and very powerful roar of Acnologia, who seemed to have sensed him as well, as he made his way toward him at an incredible speed. Igneel sensed this as well, and using that to his goal's advantage, changed direction farther away from Magniola, wanting to be sure that Natsu and Erza were safe enough so Acnologia wouldn't head towards them when he was finished with him. Once he estimated they were far enough, he stopped in mid-air, above an island which was surrounded by volcanos, which were spitting out a great amount of lava. Igneel waited for the unavoidable fight to come, happy that Natsu and Erza were out of danger. Though he also wanted to give a hard time when fighting against him, because Acnologia was the cause of too much casualities, who weren't only human but also dragons. He shrugged off the thought, thinking he has to focus on the fight if he wanted to at least _hurt_him.

Acnologia went into Igneel's sight two minutes later, which made his heart beat even faster than it already was in anticipation of the fight which was about to begin in a matter of seconds now. Igneel shivered slightly at the sight of him, he was even more scarier than he thought he would : he was about thirty meters wide, his upper body was covered in black hard scales with blue markings as well, while his inner body was covered by smoother grey scales. His wings were bird-alike, but much more larger and which was covered by the same black scales and blue markings he had on his upper body. His long and scaled boy finished in a long dark tail, looking like a razor blade and covered by the same blue markings and black scales as well. His face was the scariest though, he has numerous sharp teeth invading his mouth, his chin is extended into a harsh stake, making even more creepier. His eyes were blank, completely devoid of emotion, it was like seeing into nothing when you met eyes with him.

Igneel growled at the sight, and stared flatly back at him with a menacing glint in his green eyes before he lunged himself toward him, knowing from experience that waiting for the ennemy to come at you wasn't very smart, especially when that ennemy is the worst of all that can exist in Fiore but charging without thinking of the enemy's abilities wasn't the wisest thing to do either, so as they were about to collide against each other, Igneel increased his altitude, avoiding being hit, and catching Acnologia off guard. He breathed a long lungful of air as _the fire dragon's roar _was being loaded. In a second, he released the spell, a enormous amount of dragon fire was making its way toward Acnologia, who were unable to dodge the roar. Igneel merely watched as his attack streamed towards Acnologia, who seemed to have been hit. Igneel wasn't an idiot however, he knew that he'd have to make much more than one attack to take him down. As if responding to his thoughts, Igneel heard a roar as the flames were slowly fading away. His green eyes went wide as he saw Acnologia with not even a scratch, as he responded to his attack with one of the same type, a dark aura surrounding him. Without any warning, Acnologia released the huge amount of power, that Igneel barely avoided, as he gritted his sharp teeth in pain. His right wing was burning from the roar and still Igneel avoided the attack. He couldn't imagine what could have happened to him if he hadn't avoided it. He shrugged the feeling off, he needed to focus at the moment.

Acnologia narrowed his eyes, if only barely, as he talked to the facing dragon by telepathy :

"_Igneel, the fire dragon and one of the strongest remaining dragons in Fiore. I must say I am disappointed. I was expecting to be way much stronger than this. How boring..' _

Igneel growled loudly at Acnologia's reply, sensing sarcasm in it, before responding to him in the same way :

"_I was restraining myself, just to test you out. But if you find that boring, I won't hold myself back anymore!", _then Igneel's whole body began to lighten in fire as his fire magic increased exponentionally. Igneel's eyes were now glowing in a bright and scary red, along with his enormous body. When his transformation was complete, he rushed himself at Acnologia and at a blinding speed, punched a red-flaming in his stomach, which made Acnologia gasp in pain from the sudden change in the fire dragon. He tried to escape the closeness between them but Igneel wasn't finished as he internally shouted :

"_**Fire dragon's roar of hatred!"**_, an inferno of red flames get out of Igneel's mouth, storming in the air as it made its way toward Acnologia, who quickly analysed it as being a major threat, having no counterattacks to nullify it. So he dodged as best he could and roared at Igneel when he felt that most of his left wing was partially burnt from Igneel's attack, frustrated at the fact that his opponent were able to do that to him. He quickly recovered from the blast however, and sent an attack in response of Igneel's :

"_**Secret art : black lightning.", **_Igneel's eyes went wide as he recognised the spell being unleashed, Acnologia's gigantic body in a darklish black aura. He lauched himself forward at the speed of light, as he snickered, knowing no one could dodge that attack due to the high speed even a dragon isn't able to follow.

What he hasn't expected was that Igneel knew about this kind of magic, the red aura surrounding him becoming even more intense while he prepared himself for Acnologia's strike. He closed his eyes in an attempt to focus on Acnologia's very fast movements getting ready for the right moment. Time seemed to slow as he focused even more as he gritted his teeth in anticipation of what was about to come. Just as he felt the sick presence of Acnologia, his eyes snapped open, glowing a deep angry red as his brain screamed :

"_**Forbidden magic : Pillar of Flames !"**_

Suddenly, a huge of amount of fire came out of the island's land and streamed its way toward Igneel, engulfing the both of them in it. The blast was incredible, coming out of the earth and toward the sky as if hell was rising upon them. After a good ten second, the fire slowly faded away, to reveal an unharmed Igneel, who was immune to flames due to his nature, and a panting Acnologia, who seems very pissed, as he angrily asked :

"_What was that ?!"_, he snarled at him. He had to admit that he was impressed, as he never saw this kind of this powerful magic before. He also realised that his lower body was heavily burnt, earning a grunt in pain and anger at the fire dragon.

Igneel snickered, making Acnologia even more angrier; no one dared mocking him normally but seeing Igneel do otherwise really was beginning to get on his nerves. Eventually, he replied to him :

"_Oh ? You don't know about that ? My magic has the ability to control fire not just make fire-based attacks. For this spell, I invoked the flame burning in hell and made it reach the surface as a counterattack to yours. I wouldn't have expected it to burn you that bad though"_, Acnologia narrowed his eyes at the information. That's why it was forbidden in the first place, the flames shall never be awoken from where it was born. He was getting interested in the fight, as he found a powerful opponent where he can fight at 100 percent. He gave the equivalent of a smile, catching him off guard, even though it was more out of confusion than fear.

"_Well, that is interesting, Igneel the fire dragon. I never considered you a worth opponent against me, as I killed almost one hundred dragons by myself in one attack. Though it seems that you are different from an usual dragon which caused me to underestimate your strength. My bad, my bad... But that means I can go all out now!"_, Acnologia shouted at him, this time the words coming out of his mouth, as he was a _worthy_ opponent to him. Indeed, Acnologia never talked to humans or all the people he killed because of the simple reason that he considered all of them weaklings and not worth to be spoken to.

"_What do you mean, at 100 percent ?_, Igneel asked with curiosity and confusion, thinking that Acnologia was going all out since the fight began. He didn't know Acnologia's magic though, so he guessed it was to be expected.

"_Do you really think I am called the Dragon of the Apocalypse just because of the tiny power I showed you ? Idiot ! My ability overwhelms everyone else's ! My power is to control darkness !"_, as if to prove it to the fire dragon, a dark aura began to surround him, making the weather turn to thundering and causing an enormous shockwave from the sudden display of magical power. It seemed like he was the devil itself, who burns everything in his path.

Igneel's eyes widened in amazement, sensing the shift in his power, making shiver slightly at the thought of such an abominance existing in Fiore, stealing away people and nature's life. He growled loudly enough for Acnologia to hear, who ignored it as a spell was about to be released :

"_**Dark magic : Demonic beam!"**_, a ball slowly formed at the tip of one of his harsh fingers in a purple-black form. At first it didn't seem that powerful as it was little, but when Acnologia unleashed it, Igneel sensed a great amount of darkness in it, poisoning the air as it made its way towards him. He quickly thought of a solution as he shouted back:

"_**Fire Dragon's Howl!", **_the same fire that came out of his mouth was again unleashed, though with a lot more firepower than last time in an attempt to block Acnologia's awful attack. The fire and darkness made their way towards each other, and when they collide, the earth below them began to shake violently from the tremendous attacks the dragons unleashed at each other. The two spells fought for dominance, causing even more earthquakes in the process. The two spells never find dominance against one another, creating a huge explosion of fire and darkness, which was visible from a far distance due to its size and intensity. The smoke faded away, albeit slowly, revealing a panting Igneel, exhausted as he fought for a long time ago, which made Acnologia sneer at him :

"_Already tired ? We've only just begun the real fight, fire dragon"_, and launched himself forward, not allowing Igneel the time to recover, not even a bit. But just as he was a few meters from Igneel, who was preparing for the strike to come, he disappeared, startling greatly Igneel. Acnologia reappeared above the fire dragon, and quickly attacked :

"_**Black Dragon's Howl!", **_he screamed as he unleashed the spell. The spell was beyond anything Igneel has ever seen before; his howl was nothing compared to what he's ever seen before : a huge blast of dark magic was heading toward Igneel at an incredible speed even him was capable of following it, and before he tried to do anything to counter or dodge it, he felt himself being struck, hard on his chest, the tremendous power pushing back Igneel into the island of volcano. Acnologia just stared flatly, knowing full well that he won't attack back. He sighed, or at least what a sigh may look like for a dragon, and left the place, all the time thinking :_'You've done well, Igneel Dragneel. Nobody had ever forced me to use my real power before today. Congratulations. Bad it got you killed though. I'd have liked other fights against you to keep myself entertained...'_, he snickered at the thought before leaving, and soon disappearing in the horizon of the now clear weather.

Though, Igneel wasn't dead, thanks to the flames surrounding him, he was able to somehow survive the powerful attack of the Black Dragon of Apocalypse. But he was unable to move, the flames inhaled which were supposed to heal him and get him back to 100 percent again were doing nothing and that bothered him beyond reason. Can this attack stop his regeneration somehow ? Igneel guessed it was surely that, otherwise he would be flying back to Natsu and Erza to see if they were okay. But he couldn't move, and it angered him to be stuck in an island with only mountains on fire as a landscape, something he learned to hate since it was devoid of any life, just destruction, even though the fire was his main source of power. He was stuck here, in an island with no one, alone. But what frustrated and saddened him the most was that he was unable to help the one he fathered during several years. He gritted his teeth, trying to steady himself, but to no avail. He let out an angry and desperate roar, which was weak but strong enough to make the island tremble. As he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness from the pain and exhaustion he's feeling at the moment, his mind almost pleaded :_' I hope you'll be alright, Natsu...' _

Back in Magniola's beach:

"**_FATHER!"_**, Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs, as he saw Igneel disappear from sight. Tears were streaming down his face, the thought of his father figure flying away to protect him was just too hard for him to handle. Yes, he knew Igneel was very strong, he wasn't one of the strongest dragons all over Fiore for nothing, but against the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse ke knew that even Igneel won't survive. That thought alone, made his legs tremble violently, and soon he was on his knees, his body overwhelmed with sadness. Tears were falling even harder, when he started to imagine the torn and battered body of his father from his fight against Acnologia, and he clenched his fists shakily, a feeling of hate mixed with his sadness and pain coursing through his body.

Erza just stood there, motionless, her eyes on the last place Igneel was before he disappered from view, engaging the fight against the worst monster that ever existed, according to Natsu. She felt herself shake from the sadness Natsu was feeling right now, tears escaping unwillingly her eyes, as she remembered how it felt to lose her parents.. She was torn apart, like she'd never be able to feel happiness ever again in her life. At that moment, she was so sad about her parents' death that she almost wished to be killed as well. And seeing Natsu experiencing the same feeling, despite that they didn't know if he was dead or not, made her feel sad for him. So she reached out to him, and hug him tightly from behind, her tears falling on Natsu's shoulder. She felt him froze from the unexpected gesture, as the overwhelming sadness made him forget completely about Erza. But she was still there, hugging him as if to tell him that she'd be there for him if he needed her. Despite his sadness, pain and anger, he smiled at the thought of not being alone to deal with his sadness.

Erza, who saw that he stopped crying, whispered to him :" I know how it feels like to lose someone who means everything to you, and I want you to know that I'm here if you want help. I had nobody to talk to when I lost my parents and it felt horrible, like your body was being torn apart. I don't want you to feel that, so please talk to me !", as she tightened the hug, to emphasize her point.

Natsu gasped at how strong her grip on him was. Though he knew that she was right; he needed someone to talk to, and the thought that SHE was alone the moment she lost her parents shattered his heart and made him want to cry again. So he turned around to face her, which was hard to do it since Erza's grip was very tight, but managed to do it eventually. His gaze was soft yet teary-eyed, because of Igneel's loss and the pain Erza had to go through in her childhood. But yet here she is, hugging him tightly, wanting him to talk to her when she surely was the one who needed help the most. But his thoughts were too messy to allow himself to formulate a proper answer. He buried his face in her chest, finding an odd sense of comfort in it, and muttered just enough for her to hear : "Thank you Erza..", which brought a smile to her face despite the lack of a response from him. But before she can urge him to continue, he continued to speak in a low voice :

"Igneel raised me since I was little, I don't know when exactly. But he was strong, confident in my strenght and most of all, he protected me from any harm that might occur to me. He cared for me like I was his own son, even if he'd never admit it to me, I know it's true. And then after we rescue you, he sacrificed his life to protect me...", he stopped, unable to contain his emotions anymore, as he felt himself sob uncontrollably, soaking Erza's cloth.

Erza's eyes grew compassionate, and rubbed his back in a soothing manner in an attempt to calm Nastu down. Sensing his breath become more controled and his pulse slow down, she replied back to him :

"Your father was someone great Natsu. He sacrificed himself because he loved you as his own son and he did what he thought was the best thing to protect his child from being harmed. That's what parents do, Natsu and nothing can change that. But I'm sure of one thing : your dad would never want you to be sad like that, he'd want you to go on with your life and live it fully. It's okay to grieve, but you'll have to get over it. I'll be there to help you, no matter what."

"Thank you Erza. I don't know what I'd do without you... Thank you for being here for me...", was all he managed to say through tears of sadness and happiness at the same time.

She let go of him, to take his head so she and Natsu looked into each other's eyes, and put her forehead on his, smiling intently and reassuringly.

"You're welcome, Natsu", she said tenderly, her eyes glistening compassionately in Nastu's ones, making him smile sincerely at her. He forgot about his father during this moment. During this moment, this was just him and her, and nothing else in the world mattered. He had this pleasurable feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him feel … good despite everything that's been going on since then. He looked at her longingly and then something struck him : she was very slim, and she seemed weak... The next thing he knew he was running in the forest, searching for food, leaving a very startled Erza.

Erza was confused, why did he leave ? She's done nothing, hasn't she ? Then why ?

She was left during several minutes pondering about what happened and tried to find the reason as to why he left without telling her anything. She was bothered by it, she didn't want Natsu to leave her. She didn't know what it was, but she felt good when she was close to him. Several minutes goes by, and Natsu finally came back at the beach, with a deer on his back. Erza raised an eyebrow questioningly at Natsu and she received only a grin in return. He walked back at her, and put the deer on the ground then started to ignite his hands in flames to cook the deer.

"I figured that you'd be hungry after so much time without eating anything." he said, answering Erza's question. And indeed he was right in his statement. As soon as the smell of cooked meat reached Erza's nostrils, her stomach growled loudly showing him that he was right, which made Erza blush slightly while Natsu only chuckled. Soon the deer was cooked, and was waiting to be eaten, which Erza didn't miss as she was already digging into the food, her teeth tearing off the flesh of the deer like a wild animal. Natsu observed her, and thought she looked him when he was hungry. Though, he knew she hadn't eaten for days, so he could only understand why was she eating like that.

After a quarter of an hour, Erza's stomach felt pleased and filled as she let out a small gasp of contentment. Natsu smiled at her, which she returned, and mouthed a silent 'thank you for the meal' at him. Natsu only nodded with his trademark grin before he sat down next to her and let out a sigh, which made Erza's head turn to look at him quizically. He stared back softly at her, telling her he was okay. He was just tired after today's sorrowful events. But somehow he was able to keep himself together as long as Erza was around him, feeling protected. He smiled at nothing in particular, before Erza's voice snapped him out of his trance :

"How were you able to ignite your hands like that ? I've never seen such a thing before... Is it your magic ?", she asked out of curiousity, which made her look heavenly beautiful in Natsu's opinion. He just looked at her fondly, before remembering that she asked him a question :

"Y-Yeah that's my magic power, the Dragon Slayer magic, which was taught to me by Igneel", he answered her before asking her again : "And I can feel you have magical capabilities too, so what is yours ?"

"Oh that ?" she answered as she summoned a weapon she used for the Tower of Heaven escape, leaving Natsu wide-eyed much to her confusion :"Why are you staring at me like that ?", she asked him.

Natsu's wide eyes was soon replaced by his usual trademark grin as he answered her :" That's so cool! You can summon weapons! Wow...", making Erza chuckle sincerely at his stupidity before yawning loudly, signaling that sleep was beginning to take over. Natsu saw that, and stood up, took her hand, and led her to where he and Igneel used to sleep in the forest in a calm and peaceful glade. When they arrived, Natsu began to look for branches to burn to keep them warm during the cold winter night. After five minutes of searching, Natsu and Erza were now warmed up by the intense fire in front of them.

Erza laid herself down on the soft ground, and soon felt herself losing consciousness when suddenly she felt strong arms wrapping her waist, catching her off guard. She turned to look at Natsu who was already sleeping peacefully, his warm breath blowing against her cheek which made Erza smile intently at the figure in front of her. She snuggled herself even closer to him, making him smile in contentment in his sleep. She smiled during the whole time she looked at him, feeling herself drifting off into a goodnight's sleep she hadn't had for a long time.

The sun was rising high in the sky, enlightening Natsu's and Erza's sleeping bodies. Natsu had still his arms wrapped around Erza's waist, and Erza's head was buried in Natsu's chest, a happy smile on her face. They were glued together in their sleep, as if nothing can break them apart from each other. The weather was sunny and calm, showing the first signs of spring coming up, in symbiosis with the peaceful looks on the two people asleep.

Eventually, Natsu woke up, and rubbed the sleep off his eyes in an attempt to open them, but the sunlight prevented him to do so. So he turned his head and slowly opened them, to see a very peaceful and happy looking Erza, whose head was buried in his chest. He smiled softly at her sleeping form, and watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest, indicating him that she was relaxed in his embrace.

_'She looks so beautiful when she's asleep'_, Natsu thought and blushed unknowingly. He looked at her during several minutes, admiring her soft scarlet hair and the smile which never left her face. She looked so peaceful that she looked like she's gone through nothing but happiness, when it's the complete other way around.

He tore his gaze away from her reluctantly, to look at the sky and the bright sun high in the sky, which was surprisingly warmer than usual. He enjoyed this feeling, the warm feeling of the sun on his skin, making him feel warm. That softened his mind a little. But the more soothing thing was Erza's head on his chest. He couldn't explain why but it felt warm and made him feel an overwhelming feeling of happiness. He wondered why he was feeling that way, but he also felt like he'd never want that feeling to stop such it was comforting him.

While he was deep in thought about this unknown feeling he's experiencing, Erza stirred, showing that she'll awaken soon. Of course Natsu didn't see that, such he was lost in his thoughts. Erza opened her eyes slowly, and she felt her head resting on something soft and warm that she found very comfortable. She looked up to see that this 'something' was none other than Natsu's chest, who seemed to be lost in thought. She bumped him gently in the shoulder, to which Natsu reacted by a shook of his head and a furious blush on his face that may match Erza's scarlet hair. She frowned slightly by this reaction, wanting to know what's going on in his head.

"What are you thinking about Natsu", she questioned him, her frown never leaving her face, and making Natsu blush further more.

"Uhhh... W-What?", he managed to stutter back at her; her frown only deepened as she tried to find a reason.

_'He was thinking about something he don't wanna talk about... And when I found out about this, he nearly freaked out. Can it be because it has something to do with me ?'_, she smirked at the thought, as she planned something to try out her theory. Her hand reached out and cupped his already blushing cheek, only to see it deepening into a darker shade of red when he felt her hand touch his cheek. She smirked at that, and decided to tease even more :

"So you were thinking about me?", she asked as gently as possible, which made him look away trying hard not to scream out loud. He eventually composed himself, took a deep breath and said :

"Yeah I was", he admitted much Erza's shock. She wouldn't have thought the dragon slayer to be that frank about his feelings. But then he continued on talking :"I don't k-know but whenever you're close to me I have this foreign yet warm feeling in the pit on my stomach and it made me feel happy. And now I'd want to know if it's the same to you, since you were sleeping with your head buried in my chest."

She furiously blushed at his frank statement, pondering about what to say to him. Should she deny it and probably hurt his feelings ? Of course she didn't want that. Or should she tell him that she feels the same way and surely stressing her to death ? He gritted her teeth in frustration, not knowing what to tell him. After a good thirty seconds of thinking, she decided the latter since she'd be sad to know she hurt Natsu.

"... Y-Yeah I kinda feel t-the s-sa-ame way whenever you're around", she stuttered, blushing madly at what she just said. _'How will he react ?'_, was all she could think about at this moment.

Natsu just smiled at her statement. He knew she felt the same way ever since he awakened to find her head buried in his chest with a content smile plastered on her face. He didn't know what was this feeling he never experienced before, but he found it strangely soothing and warm, so he reached out to her, and hugged her tightly, catching Erza off guard, before she smiled warmly and laid her head on his shoulder pleasantly.

Natsu felt pleased, happy and comfortable in Erza's embrace, her soft arms wrapped around his neck was like heaven to him. He never knew such a feeling existed, when you met someone you don't know anything of but still you feel like you can tell that person anything about yourself without that person sharing your feelings. He felt himself smiling again, happy and complete when in embrace with the beautiful redhead girl.

A little old man was walking in the same forest Erza and Natsu were in. He had most of his head bold and the rest was covered in white hair. He was wearing a white coat with a symbol printed on it along with white trousers and white expensive shoes. He was staring nonchalantly at the trees and the beautiful sun, which was shining against his wrinkled skin, his interest was suddenly perked up when he saw two people hugging each other in a small glade. From the looks of it, they were both children and alone without any parents. He frowned, asking himself why two children were alone in the forest. That was when he felt something in their hearts, beyond the happiness they felt by being together; he felt like they were alone, lost and without anyone but themselves to count on.

So he stepped out of the bushes he was hiding in, and made his way toward the two who saw him walking out of the bushes, and were already in a fighting pose. But he raised his hands in a peaceful manner, telling them that he didn't mean any harm. They slightly relaxed but were still suscipious about this man. One child was a tall pink-haired boy with a black jacket which left most of his chest uncovered and black pants while the other one was a beautiful girl with long scarlet hair and brown eyes, and wore a dirty blue dress, that told the man she's gone through a lot of things. As he was a few feet away from them, he stopped and introduced himself :

"Hello, my name's Makarov Dreyar, master of the Fairy Tail guild.."

**A/N : and here is the second chapter of this story ! I wanted to say that Erza and Natsu were about 13-14 years old, so they don't know what they are feeling for the moment but they'll find about that soon enough ;) **

**Do not forget to leave a review and thanks for the people who liked and reviewed the story ! :) **


	3. Chapter 3 - Fairy Tail

**Escape from Hell**

**A/N : Here is the chapter 3 ! Sorry for the delay and thanks for the reviews and favourites ! **

**Enjoy ! :)**

Chapter 3 : Fairy Tail

"Hello, my name is Makarov Dreyar, master of the Fairy Tail guild", the old man whose name is Makarov said in a friendly tone. However, Igneel taught Natsu how to be cautious with strangers. Natsu remembered very well what Igneel told about that : _'Remember Natsu, be cautious with strangers. Some people may be friendly with you but they're not what you see. Always be sure that the person who talks to you has good intentions, so you won't be fooled.'_. So Natsu narrowed his eyes at the stranger, who raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. Natsu smelled the air and found nothing to be cautious about, but he still wasn't convinced. What were the old man's reasons to come to us ? What if it's a trap ? All these kinds of questions kept ringing in his head, causing Natsu to stumble slightly. Erza obviously saw this as she suddenly ran to him to put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with worried eyes. Natsu looked back at her with a soft gaze, and smiled at her telling her he was okay. Erza understood him as she nodded her head, but never left his side. Makarov, who watched the whole exchange between the two, can't help but smile at the scene in front of him, which Natsu didn't miss at all as he harshly asked him :

"What are you smiling about ?", Natsu's tone was sending shivers down Erza's spine, because for her Natsu is friendly, kind, compassionate. But his tone he was using now wasn't the one she was used to and it scared her. Makarov, thought, wasn't intimidated at all. He was used to that kind of reaction, so he wasn't surprised.

"Seeing the two of you together holding each other is really cute. It's like nothing but the two mattered in the world.", Natsu and Erza both blushed at that reply, but though never seperated themselves from one another. Natsu shook his head in frustration. He then glared at Makarov and managed to stutter :

"W-Why a-are you here anywa-ay ? What do you want from us ?"

Makarov's smile faded as he bowed his head and sighed. He was tired of making the same explanation all the time but he knew he had to do it anyway. He knew the two of them were alone, even if they were happy together. They were children, they still couldn't handle themselves to satisfy their needs. They needed a home, or at least somewhere they could feel like calling home, and that's what he wanted to give them. He looked up at the boy again, who hasn't changed his attitude one bit, and say to the both of them :

"I know the two of you are alone, without any parents to take care of you both. And I know for a fact that children can't handle themselves. Children need somewhere they can call home and share things with people. You two seem to have gone through things a child should have never gone through and all I want now is to offer a home, and especially a _new life.", _Makarov surprised even himself when he said that, and so were the two children. The cute girl had tears in her eyes and were sparkling in joy and excitement at the proposal. The boy was wide eyed, and unable to pronounce a word to argue back at him. He was just right about them being alone and unable to take care of themselves, and his proposal was more than inviting for them to accept. But how did he know that they were alone ? That made him suspicious. He narrowed his eyes, and then asked Makarov, but this time in a much calmer tone :

"How do you know all that about us ? That we are alone, without any parents to take care of us ?", he felt himself bow his head in sadness when he said that. Igneel was dead because he wanted to protect _him_, for Natsu it felt like he was the one who killed Igneel and it was just unbearable. He began to tremble from the pain his thoughts were causing and tears began to well up in his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks. His tears never fell though as he felt soft warms around his necks, comforting him in a warm embrace. He didn't need to know who it was, because he already knew it. The softness of these arms, the tight grip the arms applied on his neck could only mean that this was Erza telling him that she was there. He smiled warmly at her, which was returned fully, as he hugged her back. They remained locked together for several minutes not saying anything and not caring about anything but them. Makarov just stood still, watching the two of them hugging with a soft gaze. He knew these two were very close to each other and that they needed one another to go on whatever pain they had to go through. He patiently waited for them to let go of each other to answer the boy's question. Eventually after several minutes, they let go of each other, which Makarov took it as an opportunity to answer :

"I am a mage, and my magic capabilities includes the possibility to see in people's hearts so I know when they are happy, jealous, hurt, pained, everything. I just know your feelings though, not the story which caused this feeling in your heart. So I am asking you : why are you two all alone ?", he asked them in a serious tone.

Erza, who just let go of Natsu, grasped his hand again to give her some strength to talk about this painful topic. She shakily breathed to steady herself and then began to talk in a sorrowful voice :

"I come from Rosemary town, and I was living with two loving parents. I was very happy with them, and I didn't need anything else at the time. And then in the middle of one night, I woke suddenly because of screams echoing throughout the village I was living in, only to find my house burning in flames... I somehow managed to get out of my room and rushed to my parents' room and they were dead...", she trailed off, unable to continue anymore as she collapsed to the ground, her hands covering her eyes as she cried plently tears of sadness and sorrow. Natsu immediately rushed to her side and hugged her tightly. He muttered words of comfort while patting her back in an attempt to calm her down as she cried on his shoulder in utter pain. Seeing that she's not going to stop anytime soon, he decided to talk at her place :

"They were burned to a crisp, extinguishing all hope for Erza. But that's not the end of the story. Then some goons took her away to a kind of Tower, where she was condemned for labor. Though one day, she managed to escape thanks to her magic. She escaped the island where the Tower was with a boat. She was lost in the middle of the sea with nowhere to go and she screamed in despair, which I and Igneel, a dragon, have heard. So we came to the source of the noise and found her. We were heading to the beach of Magniola when Igneel sensed something awful. It was coming closer he said.. So he left us on the beach and fly off to where the scent was. I then sensed it too, and it was very awful, which surely belonged to Acnologia, the Dragon of Apocalypse. Igneel attracted him as far away from Magniola as possible. And we never saw him again...", he stopped, tears falling down his cheeks, unable to take it anymore.

Makarov just stood there, speechless. He never thought those two kids have gone through so much already. They were no more than teens and they lost everything. He shuddered at the thought of losing everything he cared for. He felt sorry for the two, that was for sure. But now, he not just wanted to offer a home, but also a _family_. He wanted that for them so we could one day recover from this unbearable pain. He walked up to them, and put his hands on both of their shoulders, who turned to look at him with teary eyes. Makarov looked back at them with sad eyes and whispered to them :

"I'm sad for you both, really. You truly are strong to keep on living despite all that happened to you. But now you are torn and lost from these experiences. Let me help you to start all over again; in Fairy Tail we are a family we share things and deal with them together. We never let someone down, we always do what we think is right. And I think it's more than right to include you in this guild. So … Will you accept my proposition or not ?", he asked as he extended his hands out at them, waiting for them to be shaken.

Erza, who stopped crying several minutes ago, looked at Natsu with pleading eyes, telling him she wanted to restart everything. That was all he needed to accept the old man's proposal, if she wanted to enter this guild then he wouldn't say no for an answer, because he wanted her to be happy. So he nodded at Erza with a soft smile on his face, who mouthed a 'thank you' with that sweet smile of hers that Natsu can't resist. He then looked at Makarov's hand and shook it gently but firmly, which made Makarov's mouth curl slightly at the strength of the young man. Natsu remembered the good manners though so he introduced himself :

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer.", he said with a stern tone.

Makarov raised an eyebrow at the introduction. A dragon slayer ? '_Then he must have a great amount of magical power_', Makarov thought. Though he didn't have enough time to reply as Erza came by and introduced herself too :

"And I'm Erza Scarlet, the sword summoner", she said with a big smile plastered on her face.

Makarov chuckled at Erza, which made her frown slightly which he noticed and quickly apologised :

"If you can summon sword out of nowhere, Erza, then you're a requip mage. You can also store armors and weapons of all types in a parallel world that you can pick up whenever you want to. It's a very powerful power, remember that. And Natsu, the power of a dragon slayer is unbelievable from what I heard and held many secrets that even I don't know about. You'll have to find the way to improve yourself, I'm afraid", he told to the both of them, earning big grins in the process.

"Don't worry, sir. I and Erza are going to train together so we can get stronger !", Natsu shouted out loud, scaring the animals in the forest.

"Yeah !" Erza soon joined Natsu, with her big grin still in place on her features.

"Hey Erza, that smile is for me normally... I'm going to become jealous.." Natsu faked sadness, which made both Makarov and Erza laugh heartedly at the humorous remark.

"Poor Natsu...", Erza teased him with a peck on his cheek. Natsu just pouted and folded his arms, pretending to be mad, though his smile at the corner of his lips betrayed that attempt, making Erza giggle. She wanted to tease him more though, so her mouth came closer to his ear and whispered gently :

"You know Natsu.. Your little pout is soooo cuute ! I love it", Natsu blushed madly at her words. Not that he didn't appreciate the words but hey he wasn't expecting this. On the other hand, Erza burst out in laughter as soon as she saw him blushing madly, approaching the color of a tomato. Natsu muttered something incoherent but from the expression he had on his face, Erza could tell that it was something along the lines of 'it is not fair' or 'I will have my revenge'.

Makarov just watched the interaction between the two and couldn't help but smile warmly at the scene. His guild was a family yes, but these two were something more than that, and yet he coudn't put his finger on it. He shrugged off the thought however, as there was more important to focus at the moment. He coughed in his hand to catch the two children's attention and they obviously turned their heads to look at him.

"Sorry to interrupt your little.. argument, but what about leaving this forest and head to the city to find some decent clothes to wear ? I'm sure Erza wouldn't complain about that", he winked at Erza who just nodded at him in agreement. The blue dress she was wearing was all dirty and she coudn't deny that it was uncomfortable. Natsu just grumbled again; he hated shopping but he did understand the need to be normally dressed when they will go to Fairy Tail. So he went along with the two already walking to the town nearby.

* * *

Makarov, Natsu and Erza walked out of the forest at a rather fast pace. However when Erza's eyes caught a glimpse of what looked like a clothes shot in the downtown of Magniola, they had no choice but to stop, otherwise she wouldn't have followed them. And being a girl, choosing decent clothes is an important matter, much to Natsu's displeasure and Makarov's amusement. After about an hour of trying clothes of all kinds, starting from the normal dresses to royalty's ones she eventually found one that she liked. It was a bright purple dress that left half of her legs uncovered, it also had silky purple sleeves which covered her arms and her naked feet were now wearing red high heels shoes. Natsu, despite being bored, couldn't help but think that the girl he was staring at was wonderfully beautiful; his eyes were glistening in amazement. His eyes met hers, and he only managed to stutter :

"Y-yo-ou ar-re beautiful, Erza"

At these words and his reaction, Erza smiled softly at him and walked over to give a soft kiss on his already reddened cheek, whispering a thank you in his ears before turning to talk to Makarov :

"Shall we now go get Natsu some decent clothes ?", she inquired, to which Makarov nodded. After hearing those words, Natsu grumbled again. He really HATED shopping. But hey Erza can make him do whatever she asked for so he followed them. He was fast to choose though, the faster he was finished with this, the better. So now he was wearing a black sweater with Fairy Tail's red emblem imprinted on it, black trousers and the usual sandals he was wearing earlier. They then left the shop, much to Natsu's contentment, and began to walk to the guild's location where they were supposed to stay since they didn't know where to go. On their way to the guild, both Erza and Natsu were amazed at the number of people living in this town. Some were playing, some were shopping with friends or family, etc. But all of them seemed happy, something Erza has learned to live without until the day she met the kind haired friend who was currently complaining that he was tired from walking too much. So she'd talk to him and he'd forget everything about his 'tireness', to which Erza mocked him. But the blowing wind was too cold for Erza, not that her outfit protected her from it anyway, making her shiver and soon goosebumps coud be noticeable on her skin. However, it soon faded when she felt her body against Natsu's, which was surprisingly warm. She opened her mouth to ask for an explanation but Natsu beat her to it :

"You were shivering and having goosebumps all over your body. So I increased my body temperature as I'm the fire Dragon Slayer so you won't be cold anymore.", he explained to her, earning a warm smile and a thank you in return.

"Aren't you two soo cuute...", Makarov behind them teased.

"SHUT UP !", The two children shouted at him in unison, their faces blushing in a deep shade of red that matched Erza's hair properly. Makarov just laughed. He'll have a good time teasing them about that in the guild. He snickered at the thought, without the two children noticing since they were so engulfed in their own little world, even they'd not want to admit it.

* * *

Makarov stopped, signaling to the two that they arrived to the right place. Fairy Tail house looked like a normal hotel with three floors, built in a medieval fashion, with an orange cover located at the third floor with a white emblem imprinted on it. Also, the door entrance was thrice taller than Natsu and had Fairy Tail's name imprinted at the top of it. But what intrigued Natsu wasn't the house itself but the name's goal or possible meaning behind it.

"Why Fairy Tail, old man ?", he asked him quizically. Makarov raised an eyebrow at his sudden question. No one ever asked him that before, and now that little boy was asking him the very meaning of the guild's name. _'What an interesting child'_, he thought to himself and then added a smile to his face and decided to answer him :

"No one knows if fairies have tails or not, or if even Fairies exist at all. That's why we decided to call it Fairy Tail, which means an eternal life of adventures and mystery.", he explained to him and he nodded understandingly, making the master frown in confusion. _'That kid is that clever already ? What's with him ?', _he asked himself, wondering about how it is possible for a kid to be this clever at his age. He shrugged off the thought though, now wasn't the time to think about such things. So he walked over to the door and mentioned for them to enter first. Natsu quickly nodded at him, as he started to walk over to the door but before he opened it, he noticed the lack of warmth emanating from Erza's body. He turned around to see Natsu standing still, a few feet behind him. Her body was slightly shaking and it worried him. He walked back to her, and he put his arm around her shoulder and cupped her cheek with his other free hand and she looked at him with a nervous expression on her face. With a frown, Natsu asked worringly :

"Hey, what's happening Erza ?", she wanted to look away from him but Natsu didn't let her.

"I-I don't know, I'm just stressed about meeting other persons. What if they don't like us ? What if they want us to go away ?", she answered shakily as tears began to well up in her eyes. Natsu sensed her distress, so he immediately reached out and hugged her tightly, patting her back to prevent her from crying again. He did understand her though, she's been enslaved in a tower for years so he guessed that took part in the consequences of being forced to labor there.

"Shhh, we won't be rejected, Erza. You are too beautiful for that to happen.", he tried to comfort her and it worked as he heard chuckle at his humorous yet truthful remark. He sighed in relief. For some unknown reason, he never wanted to see Erza sad again. That just felt … normal and right. For all the things she's been through, Natsu thought it was just normal to let happiness come back in her life again and fight away sadness and the pain of her sad past. He swore to himself that he'd never let her be sad. Ever. He'll protect her at all costs, no matter the consequences. He let go of her, only to press his forehead against hers.

"And if there's a problem, I'll protect you, no matter what.", he said with determination dripping from his voice. Erza smiled warmly at him, her eyes glistening in gratefulness. She felt really warm in the inside at those words, both because he sounded really sincere about that and the fact that now she was being protected, but especially she felt she was being _loved. _She thought it to be impossible, that never in her life would she think that she'll feel _happy _again. And yet here she was, feeling happy like when she was a child with her parents. Natsu was making her happy, but how she didn't know. She didn't care about that for the moment though, because she knew by instinct that Natsu didn't know why either. She was snapped from her thoughts by Natsu's voice :

"So now you ready to enter ?", Natsu asked gently to her and when he saw her nodding her head at him, he took her hand and they started walking to the door. Nodding his head, Makarov opened the 3 meter door to reveal Fairy Tail's mages all staring at the door to see who was coming. And they were all surprised to see that two strangers were standing nervously at the door, one beautiful young girl and a pink haired young boy. Their confusion only lasted a while though, as they saw their master enter the guild who explained that these two children were new members of the guild.

"Do not let their nice appearances fool you though, they are powerful mages. They are just a little shaken from what happened to them.", Makarov told them all, when a mage with white hair asked :

"And what happened to them ?", the mage spoke in a female voice, but a voice full of pride and carelessness, which gave creeps to the other mages but Natsu and Erza remained unfazed by this tone.

"That is not of your concern, Mira. What happened will remain a secret as long as they want it to be that way. But I'd surely not tell you.", Makarov answered simply, making Mirajane rolled her eyes in annoyance at the lack of answer he was giving her. But she quickly shrugged it off as she scoffed at the newcomers before coming to the bar and shouted at the barman :

"Gimme some wine, Macao, and quick !", the barman she shouted at had blue hair, intense brown eyes and a beard was starting to grow on his cheeks. He wore a white suit with a black tie and black casual pants. His voice was ruffy when he replied to Mirajane's harsh and rude order :

"Come on, Mira, you know you too young for that kinda stuff..", but soon Mirajane's dark aura told him to comply. He sighed :" I'd have warned you, young lady..", he said as he served her a glass of wine. And actually after three glasses, she was completely out of it, knocked out cold on the floor.

Makarov sighed tiredly :"Just take her to one of the room upstairs so she'll have her rest...", he then looked at the two and encouragingly urged them inside :"Come on you fools, they won't eat you, y'know !", he laughed at them and hurried them inside. Natsu and Erza just stared at their surroundings, there was at least fifty people and children their age was the most of them. Natsu noticed an empty table, and he walked over to it with Erza by his side, ignoring all the glances that were shot at their direction. Natsu motioned for her to seat down on a chain, after he sat down on a chair opposite Erza. They looked at each other for a moment, lost in thought before Natsu asked for a maid to come by shouting out :"MAID !", ignoring completely the manners as he didn't care about that. Soon though, a maid dressed in a waitress uniform with Fairy Tail's name come at them and commented :

"You know kid, it's not polite to shout for a waitress to come. Raising a hand would have sufficed", she gently said to Natsu, who only sighed at this. He took a look at the name tag she had on her breast area and read Jenny. She had long and curly blond hair that descended on her shoulders, emerald eyes and gloss covered lips. But Natsu didn't care about the good-looking person, he just wanted to eat :

"Listen, Jenny, I had a pretty bad day today, I am tired and hungry, so please would you go get me anything based on meat. I'm friggin' straving really. Oh and I'm sure Erza wanna have something to eat too.", Erza nodded at him, because she was actually hungry. She put her hand on her chin, pondering about what to eat. And after a few seconds, she recalled something in her childhood : back at when her parents were still alive, she'd burst out in excitement at the idea of having a strawberry cake if she did as she was told. It has been at least four years since she hasn't savoured one, and she wanted to know why she was so addicted to that cake when she was only a kid.

"I'd like a strawberry cake, please Jenny.", she added her sweet grin of hers, to which Jenny muttered :"Sooo cuute" before regaining her composure :

"So one strawberry cake for the sweet girl and a meat plate for Mr Rude boy!", she cheerily said and then ran to do the orders, missing a chair thrown by Natsu by mere inches. He growled at his failure and went to throw another chair but a hand stopped him fro doing so. He looked up to meet Erza's stern gaze, which made shiver for some unknown reason. He braced himself for whatever Erza's going to do to him and was surprised when she only sighed at him :

"What was that for, Natsu ?", she asked while putting her hands on her hips, waiting for his answer. By the way she was looking at him Natsu knew he had to answer. He didn't know her yet, he only saw her vulnerable side but there had to be something else about her. She wouldn't have escaped this hellish tower otherwise. But he didn't want to know; it freaked him out somehow.

"Well... She insulted me and God only knows how much I hate being insulted", he answered simply , fearing her reaction to his words. And when she softened her gaze and put a hand on his shoulder, he could only sigh in relief. It was short lived however when he heard Erza spoke :

"Listen, Natsu. Just because she insulted you, if what she said was really an insult since you really were rude to her, doesn't mean you can throw chairs at her ! She hasn't done anything to you and yet you treated her like if she was a slave ! Do you realise how mean you were ?!", Natsu realised she had tears in her eyes when she finished and widened his eyes in realisation. Erza was a slave not much time ago and had suffered greatly to get herself free from the monsters that enslaved her. Not knowing what to say, he only hugged her as she cried out loud in his chest, her tears soaking the suit he was wearing. He didn't care though, she was crying because of him. And he promised to himself he'd never saw her cry again, only to see her cry because of _him_.

"I broke my promise already.. I'm so sorry, Erza...", he hugged her tighter as tears began to well up in his eyes. However, Erza heard that bit of a sentence he said and frowned in wonder.

"What promise Natsu ?", she asked him and she felt Natsu shaking at the question she just asked. However, there was no need to hide anymore as Erza wouldn't let it slip.

"All those tears you've shed, it made my heart sting at the thought of such a sweet girl like you had to go through that much already. Y-you deserve happiness, I just know it. But I know that your past may not allow you to go on. That's what I feared when you first told me about you, that you wouldn't go on. But then I noticed that my presence was helping you to smile, so I made to myself a promise : to never let you cry again, and live a life full of happiness you so rightly deserve. And there you are crying. I broke my promise... I'm so sorry...", Natsu shakily forced his words out of mouth as tears began to fall down his face.

"Natsu...", Erza said worringly, as she tried to comfort him but to no avail. He just kept on crying his heart out.

"You didn't break your promise", a mature male voice said. Natsu looked at the source of the foreign voice with teary eyes, to see a man envelopped in a black coat. He had brown hair and eyes, and a short beard was noticeable on his face . His look was dead serious, though. He heard all the conversation and couldn't agree with what Natsu said. Natsu opened his mouth to speak but the stranger beat him to it.

"You didn't mean to bring those memories to her, whatever they are. She deserves happiness ? Then make sure she'll have it damn it !", The man cursed under his breath, but Natsu heard it anyway and only looked at him questioningly. The man then pointed his finger at Erza.

"Just look at her! Do you think that crying over something as futile as that will help her in any way to reach happiness ? I don't think so. She's clearly worrying for ya, Natsu ! So stop it !", he shouted at him. Natsu did as the old man said and realised that he was right : Erza's eyes showed only sadness and worry to see him in such a state. _'Damn it, why didn't I think about that earlier ?'_, Natsu cursed himself inwardly before smiling reassuringly at Erza and pulling her into a hug again.

"We'll have to talk about that promise you've made Natsu", Erza stated softly to Natsu, never breaking from the hug they were having.

"Yeah, we will. But now isn't the time for this don't you think ?", Natsu answered, and as Erza nodded, he took her hand to go at the table again to wait for the maid to come with their meals. They found nothing to say to each other, just looking at each other in the eyes and smiles on their face. Words weren't needed to know what they were thinking. But then Natsu bowed his head to hide his face from Erza's sight, that she obviously noticed. Before she could do anything though, she could hear his voice :

"Why a promise ? I don't know really … It just felt the right thing to do... I just don't know...", he shakily looked up at Erza through a confused gaze and added :"What should I do ?", he desperately wanted to know what to do, but he didn't and it greatly confused him. Erza softened the intense glare she was giving him and cupped his cheek with the palm of her hand. Natsu froze at the feeling of her hand, it felt so... warm. He didn't have any chance to ask her though.

"You don't need to make yourself a promise to make me happy, if breaking it means so much pain for you.. I don't want you to be sad, hurt because I know it'll worry me too. All I want you to do is living with me since your simple presence comforts me..", she shyly said to him as she blushed a slight shade of red that tinted her cheeks. Natsu nodded at her and smiled sincerely. What was the point of making a promise if it brings sadness to the person you want to protect ?

"If making you happy means living with you, I'm more than glad to accept that offer, Erza. And living with you is making me happy too.", he smiled at her sincerely, who smiled back. They looked again at each other and waited patiently for their meals until a blue-haired boy smirked at them :

"Aren't the two of'em cute ? The afraid princess with his brave knight. Huh. How cu...", he never finished his sentence though as Erza and Natsu both shouted :" Shut up !", blushing in a tomato-like fashion from the embarrassment he was causing them. The blue haired only snickered :

"Looks like I've hit a weak spot. Is it me or you too are looking like tomatoes for the moment ? Haha !", the guy known as Gray laughed at his own joke. His laugh was soon cut off as one of Erza's sword was heading toward him, which he barely avoided before the sword planted itself in the wall behind him.

"Hey, what was that for ?!", he shouted at her. "It was just a fucking joke ! You don't have to be serious every...", he trailed off to avoid a wave of swords heading in his direction. But there was too muh of them.

"Ice make : _shield _!", he shouted and soon he created a rose made of ice to shield himself from the incoming projectiles heading his way. He stopped most of them, but there was just too much that the shield shattered in pieces. _'Wow this strong', _he cursed to himself and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"You wouldn't want her to be angry, pal.", Natsu walked over to him and slapped hardly on the back, which caused to fall straight down on the floor, head first, making everyone laugh heartedly. Gray though was pissed and went to strike Natsu for payback only for him to block his fist with his hand. He widened his eyes in shock. _'Just what the hell are those guys ?'_, he thought dramatically. Natsu titled his head. Why was the guy struggling to keep himself under control ? He didn't have to ask him though as Gray shouted at him :

"Just what the hell are you ?!", he was trembling shakily in fear, afraid of this boy and girl for some unknown reason.

"I'm the fire Dragon Slayer. I was taught by the fire dragon Igneel", he answered simply. Gray widened his eyes even more. A dragon slayer ? What was that ? He never heard of it before. But he knew for a fact that he was much stronger than him. He gritted his teeth in anger. He never wanted to admit it but Natsu was stronger and so was the girl with him. He clenched his fists in frustration but Natsu held out a hand for him to take and help him up. Gray grumbled something under his breath but took Natsu's hand anyway. When Gray was up, he met Natsu's stern stare and he asked :

"You know, life is nothing about who's stronger and who's weaker. Living is about friendliness, and the thing you share with other people. You don't need to prove who's stronger to earn respect and appreciation. So stop with 'I'm the stronger' thing please.", with that Natsu left the guild with Erza following closely behind him, leaving a stunned Gray who was frozen in place at the center of the hall._ 'What's with that kid'_, he wondered to himself.

* * *

Natsu and Erza were resting in the top of a hills, staring at the beautiful sky above them. Both were snuggled against each other, enjoying each other's warmth in the cold weather of the winter. The sun was only of little help to provide them with warmth, but none of them cared. First because Natsu was more than enough to keep them warm, but the main reason was because as long as they were together, nothing could harm them.

"That speech of yours was wonderful, Natsu.", she smiled at him beautifully and snuggled even closer to him.

"That wouldn't have been possible without you to give me the strength to do it, Erza", Natsu answered and smiled at her before wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace. Erza let out a moan of contentment before falling asleep, feeling safe in Natsu's strong and warm arms.

He smiled at her sleeping form, noticing how beautiful she looked when she was peacefully asleep. The sun was shining on her, making her hair glisten beautifully. Natsu looked up at the sky, happy to have this girl enlightening his mind, and his heart.

* * *

_**A/N : **_**Alright, so this it for chapter 3 ! So yeah in this story I've decided to make Natsu and Erza stronger than what they originally were in the anime. I just thought you may like it guys. And well I'm tingling in excitement at the idea, really ! **

**So now Erza and Natsu are in Fairy Tail. But I wanted to change the storyline of the original anime. Should I just thought pick up the similar events but change how it happens or completely inventing another story ? It's up to you guys ! **

**Oh and yeah I wanted to say that the next won't come anytime soon.. You see I have an exam in less than two weeks and I haven't started revising the lessons yet ! Though I'll still do my best but I sincelery don't expect the story to be updated next week because of school. Well it's not like I can do something about it x) **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review ! :) **


	4. Chapter 4 - Complications

**Escape from Hell**

**A/N :** **_Well here is the third chapter. To let you know, I decided that this story is going to be completely created on my own, with no particular links with the Fairy Tail's original storyline. I just thought it'd be fun to write a story. This means that the characters' personality are invented as well. But I think you already know since I wrote a smarter Natsu and a sweeter Erza ( she is so cuuuute ! ). So in this chapter, things are starting to get really complicated. Erza and Natsu are still children by the way, I thought this arc could be a great chance for them to train and get stronger. I'll try to make them go through things and all ( being the cute guy it's hard for me to do so xD ). But the new characters who're gonna appear are related to many other people, so yeah this arc can trigger other issues and all. But before that, this chapter is mainly an introduction of this first arc. Next chapter's gonna be more interesting to read. Doesn't mean this one isn't interesting either hehe._**

_**Anyway, hope you enjoy the story and review !**_

* * *

'Basic language'

_'Thoughts'_

**'Spells'**

Chapter 3 : Complications.

It was a beautiful and calm night in the city of Magnolia. Everything in the city was quiet, everyone asleep in their beds, enjoying a good night of sleep. The soft noise that could be heard was the sound of a weak wind swirling throughout the city. Though no one could have expected to see two persons sleeping in an isolated place at the outskirts of the beautiful city. The two persons were none other than Natsu and Erza who were cuddled together, sleeping peacefully, Natsu's body emanating enough heat to warm them up and be immune to the still cold weather.

Erza was sleeping in the crook of Natsu's neck, with a satisfied smile on her face. Natsu's appearance in her life literally changed her life for the best, and his kindness whenever he talked to her made Erza feel … loved. He was ready to wear a burden so he can protect her from any harm. This was a crazy promise to make, because keeping that kind of promise is nearly impossible. And yet it was comforting for Erza that he was willing to make such a promise, even though it was crazy. It just showed her how much she meant for him and it made her feel a warm and comforting feeling in her stomach. Which was why she was sleeping happily and peacefully, enjoying the warmth coming from hos body, her content smile never leaving her face. Natsu was no different; his arms were wrapped unconsciously around Erza in a possessive way, as if he never wanted to let go. Erza's appearance changed his life drastically too, and she was always there for him when he needed it, when he lost his foster father who never came back from his fight with the black bastard. She was there when he most needed someone and he knew she'd always be there for him. They were cuddled together, peaceful as ever.

The sun began to rise, signaling the night is about to end. In less than twenty minutes, the sun was shining in a orang-ish color, bathing the city in a comforting light. Natsu, being very sensitive, began to stir, showing the first signs of awakening. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hand and as his eyes opened, what caught his eye first was Erza's body pressed against him, her head in the crook of his neck. Her calm breathing was brushing his skin, and for some reason Natsu found it comforting and warm. He took a look at her face and saw her smiling contently from the contact the two had. _'It is a perfect way to wake up'_, Natsu couldn't help but blush at how close they were, but he made no attempt to push her away because he liked that, no he _loved_ that. And well that bothered him because he knew all too well what it meant.

* * *

Flashback

-Forest of Magniola-

Natsu was training which was something he was getting used to since Igneel had found him and decided to teach Dragon Slayer Magic. To say that the training was hard was a complete understatement. Having to destroy mountains with only your physical strenght is nothing but inhuman. But hey Natsu was a dragon slayer, and is not really human so that's why he was trying endlessly to shatter the mountain in a thousand pieces. But that only ended up in failure and big bruise on his fists and on his head, because at his young age, Natsu had the incredible idea to use his head on the mountain which was why bumps could be visible on his head. Eventually, after many attempts and big bumps and bruises, he'd had enough of it and vented out his frustration by roaring in anger, much like a dragon.

Igneel just watched him without saying anything, deeming necessary that the boy he's grown to consider a son has to handle things on his own and without his help. So he kept staring at Natsu, who was beginning to pound the mountain hard out of anger of his failure and seemingly careless about the injuries he might sustain. He just kept on striking the mountain, without thinking properly, as he was slowly driven insane, that Igneel didn't fail to miss. Seeing that he was on the brink to go berserk, Igneel let a tremendous roar leave his mouth, enough to make Natsu dead on his tracks. Natsu turned to look at him. _" I'm so dead..". _He was surprised however to see Igneel motioning for him to come and sit down, which he did hurriedly. Within seconds, he was sat on the harsh ground in front of his teacher and foster father, his eyes locking onto Igneel's.

Igneel, seeing that he had Natsu's full attention, let out a loud sigh and then stared at him with a stern gaze, sending shivers down Natsu's spine. Oh yeah he was so fucked. The mere thought of an angry Igneel scared him to death. He may be grateful for him to take care of him but hey, when a dragon can burn down an entire forest by a single howl how can you not be scared ? But Natsu also learned a lot of things, he was human above everything, with feelings and fear is one of them. He also learned from Igneel himself that fearing something isn't evil, it's knowing your weakness. And once you know about it, you think about a way to overcome it. He didn't know the meaning of all that since then, but now it all made sense to Natsu who was still staring at Igneel with cold determination in his eyes, ready to take whatever Igneel had to tell him.

Igneel had noticed the shift in Natsu's attitude but decided to speak anyway : " Natsu, letting your emotions get the better the you won't make you progress in fights. Think at what you did several seconds ago, child. You were beginning to go insane, and that can't be allowed, Natsu...", he was soon cut off by Natsu, who asked him :

"Why can't it be allowed, Father ?", Igneel grunted in annoyance at that statement and then sighed

"You don't want to know.", Igneel answered sharply, leaving no room for argument. But Natsu, being the curious type wasn't finished. He was getting curious as to why going insane was dangerous for a dragon slayer.

"I wanna know!", he shouted excitedly, urging Igneel to tell him everything. But Igneel wasn't that kind of person, as he shook his head in a negative gesture, adding a growl to the young boy to prove he really didn't want to tell him. Natsu crossed his arms, turned his head to look away from him and pouted :

"But if I wanna become a dragon slayer, I should know everything about being one!", Natsu shouted at him in frustration, and slammed his fist on the floor, creating a small crater because of the strength behind it. Igneel just stared at him in confusion. He was right, he couldn't deny it. And yet he was reluctant to tell him. Why so much trouble ? Did he fear that Natsu was aware of the situation ? Is he thinking that by not telling him he will protect him ? Come to think of it, Igneel knew he was afraid of that fact. But he also knew that Natsu needed to know that to prevent this event to happen. The mere thought of Natsu going berserk was enough to send shivers down his spine.

Igneel sighed :"You're right Natsu", Igneel began. "You should know everything. But before I tell you anything, let me tell you this : listen carefully to what I'm going to say, Natsu. Am I clear ?", Igneel said with a stern gaze, to which Natsu enthusiastically, happy to get through to his foster father.

"Humans are driven by emotions. But there are good and bad emotions. The good ones aren't harmful but the bad ones, like the one you've experienced not so long ago... It can drive a human insane, and you're human with Dragon Slayer magic, a power that reacts in function of your feelings. And well let's explain it simple : sometimes, even though it's rare, this magic can consume someone's soul, rendering these unfortunate persons emotionless and power-thirsty and destroying everything in their paths. So you must always control yourself, Natsu. Do not ever let anger, hate take over or you'll be screwed !", Igneel almost pleaded with Natsu and that left the latter wide-eyed in confusion.

_'Since when Igneel is cursing ? Wait, and he's scared ?! What the fuck ?'_, Natsu thought, frowning but nodded his head anyway, considering this information important according to Igneel. But another question lingered in his mind.

"Igneel, what are emotions ?", Natsu asked curiously and earning another huff from Igneel but Natsu's thirst for knowledge was so cute ( yeah Igneel can think something is cute even if he's a dragon ), and decided to tell him everything he knew.

"Emotions are what you feel. Depending on what you feel and who you are, you're experiencing different emotions. The one you've experienced earlier was anger of your failure and that is a bad emotion. But there are good emotions such as love...", He was cut off again by Natsu, his thirst for knowledge taking over once again :

"What's love ?", Natsu asked, frowning to the foreign word. Igneel smiled ( or the equivalent of one ) at him for his will to know everything, the fire dragon had met numerous people in his long life but still only a few of them had such a thirst to know everything and never giving up. Natsu sure was interesting. Yet he'd lost his parents, but right after Igneel decided to take care of him and teach him Dragon Slayer magic Natsu was just all smiling as if his sadness was completely forgotten and erased. And now Natsu considered Igneel his father and teacher. Igneel quickly regained his composure and shrugged off his thoughts, having recalled that Natsu asked him a question.

"Love is the most beautiful emotion, but yet the most painful one if it's not returned. Love is when you feel an extremely intense attachment for a person. This attachment is so intense that you could sacrifice yourself to save the person you love if it means that this person would be saved and well. And well, this feeling does make you want more than just friendship, but you'll see that for yourself. This is something unexplainable until you feel it my boy. But Dragon Slayers have one unique way to love. Dragon Slayers have only one mate for life and if that mate doesn't love you back or is already with someone else, there's no turning back so be careful Natsu. Just remember Natsu that you do not find love, it is love who finds you", Igneel tried to explain to him, only to see Natsu scratching his head deep in thought, trying to comprehend what his father was telling him. After several minutes, he came up with nothing and decided that it was better not trying to understand any further.

"Let's just rest", Igneel stated and soon a yawn coming out of Natsu's mouth was heard, making Igneel smirk in amusement. Natsu could only nod in agreement and lied down on the floor near Igneel who just wrapped his arm around Natsu's body in a protective gesture. Soon both of them were enjoying a good night of sleep.

* * *

-Present time-

Natsu frowned in confusion :_'Could it be... ? That for some unknown reason... Erza's my mate ? Igneel told me that you do not find love, that love was the one to find me.. I know she likes it when she's close to me and I like it too …', _Natsu was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Erza stirring awake. At first, the bright sun was just too much for her to open her eyes, but soon they adjusted to the bright light shining on her in a gold-like light. She rubbed the sleep off her eyes and took sight of her surroundings. She was at the same place that where Natsu and she were last evening. She then felt Natsu's strong arms wrapped around her waist, that had probably been wrapped for the entire night. She smiled at the tought of being this close to someone that she had just met a few moments ago, and yet it felt as if they knew each other since they were born. This was a weird, yet wery warm, feeling and it relaxed her. She incousciously snuggled even closer to him, taking in his scent, and enjoyed it for some unknown reason. As sleep was slowly leaving her body, Erza stifled a yawn so as not to wake up Natsu. She looked up, expecting Natsu to still be asleep, and was however surprised when she saw Natsu completely awake with a distant gaze on his face. It was like if he was bothered by something... Erza didn't like it one bit. So she pinched his shoulder, hard enough for him to snap out of his thoughts. Natsu blinked rapidly, wondering what had just happened. When his vision cleared, he was quite surprised to see Erza with her arms crossed under her chest, who somehow managed to get out his previous tight hold on her. He frowned at the loss of contact, but was soon cut off by Erza's to-the-point question :

"What's bothering you, Natsu ?", her tone was caring, but yet leaving no room for argument. Natsu knew that he wasn't going to avoid the subject.

"... I was just thinking that's all ! What makes you think I was bothered by something ?", Natsu answered and looked away from her so she won't notice the little pinkish color on his cheek.

"You had a distant look on your face. I often caught people doing that when I was still in that goddamn tower, you know... And it was mostly because they had something on their mind, so please Natsu, just tell me ! You know you can tell me anything, right ?", Erza responded back to him, frowning in worry about why he was trying to hide something from her. She never liked her one best friend looking so... lost and confused. She wanted him to be happy, like he'd done for her so many times already. She wanted him to smile. And right now, he wasn't. This bothered her a lot.

"Y-Yeah I know... It's just that I don't know what I'm feeling... I'm so confused and lost..", these words just escaped his mouth, as if his mouth has worked automatically. But a hand on his shoulder made his frown disappear as he looked up to meet Erza's worried glance. He covered her hand with his own and added a comforting smile on his lips in an attempt to soothe the girl he deared the most, which only partially worked as she spoke :

"You know I'm here don't you ? And whatever happens, I'll always be here. And it pains me to see you like that. And it will only help if you talk, I think. Maybe I can help you somehow like you always did for me..", she put her other hand on his shoulder to emphasize her point and smiled comfortingly at him, silently telling him that she was here no matter what. This brought a smile to Natsu's face, a sincere one that time, at the mere thought of simply having Erza by her side. And for some reason, that feeling crept up again. _'What is it … This is so weird , yet so soothing and comforting at the same time...', _Natsu sighed, deciding to tell her everything that bothered him, sure that it was the wisest thing to do, and also because lying to her was just impossible. He took a deep breath, looked into Erza's eyes who was urging him to speak, and then spoke in an unsure voice :

"Well, I've been feeling... things lately", he stuttered out and he saw Erza open her mouth in an attempt to speak but quickly continued before she said anything : "And somehow I found out that it has something to do with your presence and I can't figure what this is. This is strange, yet comforting and soothing at the same time. This is so confusing …", he finished and scratched his head in a confusing manner, and looked up into Erza's brown beautiful orbs which were showing only compassion. She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at him. It was only seconds before Natsu smiled back at her. He wasn't expecting Erza to answer him though, as he thought that it'd embarrass her to no end.

"It's alright to feel, Natsu. That's what makes us human.", he opened his mouth to speak but she raised her hand in a 'I ain't finished yet' gesture, to which Natsu just kept quiet. Satisfied he'd listen to her, Erza continued : "And that might surprise you, but I've also felt things you know ? Guess the fact that you saved me and all might help more than I think but I cant just ignore these feelings. And I believe you feel the same thing than I do and I don't know anything about it either. So we must live with it, and hopefully we'll figure out what it is together okay ?", she told him with a tender smile on her face that can only make Natsu smile in return. They looked at each other, their smiles never leaving their faces. Natsu then instantly reached out and hugged her, his arms wrapped around her neck. He patted her back and whispering a 'Yeah, you right' loud enough for her to hear it. He felt her hugging her back, bringing a smile on both Erza and Natsu. The moments like this one was always treasured by the both of them, as it was very important for them to do that. It just felt …. normal. They stayed like this for minutes, not caring about anything but the two of them. But what felt like minutes after, a disgusting scent was beginning to spread in the air, that Natsu didn't fail to notice thanks to his enhanced senses. The scent he was currently smelling was so disgusting that it was sending shivers down his spine and made him shudder in fear. Only one scent can make him feel that : there was something or someone evil nearby, and soon sounds of screams coming from the forest can be heard. Not wasting anytime, Natsu grabbed hold of Erza's hand and pulled her along with him as he ran off the place they were staying at, in the direction of the guild's location. Erza didn't protest, but was frightened as well. If Natsu was so frantic about something and then later, screams of desperation were heard, it meant trouble. They ran back into the city, hoping to get to the guild as fast as possible so they can warn them about the growing threat looming over the city of Magniola.

* * *

Guild's main hall

Everything was fine in the Fairy Tail's guild hall with the members were drinking, talking, eating or doing Fairy Tail's favourite activity : brawling. Indeed, just one thing wrong can have huge consequences. And right now, we are in front in the guild where the members were brawling of Gray being angered at the arrival of two powerful mages that seemed to overpower him. And being in a bad mood, Gray just vented out his frustration by smashing everything he could until he was exhausted. Unfortunately, he didn't expect to hit Mirajane unpurposely, who began right after to fight back. No need to tell what happened next, now everyone is fighting harshly with fists or magic power. The only two who weren't fighting along with them was Makarov and Gildarts ( his magic would just cause too much trouble ). However they seemed quite unbothered by the fight still raging all around them as they were quite used to it. The two were talking about the two newest members and the little show of power they've made yesterday.

"Where did you get those two newbies, Gramps ?", Gildarts said thoughtfully, his interest peaking up about those two. "They are quite unusual mages, for children that young and quite close also.", Gildarts smirked at that part, knowing full well that their relationship was already beyond normal friendship. He turned his head to look at Makarov when he heard Makarov's reply :

"Oh I was just walking in the outskirts of the city when I heard them talking. I went there and found them out. I talked to them, and after some talk came with me to join the guild. That's no big deal really.", he said evasively with a fake smile on his face. Gildarts obviously didn't miss it as he replied questioningly :

"And what are two kids doing in the forest all alone on their own ? And what did they join you ? Don't they have parents or somethig ?", Makarov sighed at him; if he thought he could fool him with a smile to mask his obvious sadness, he was very wrong.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I ?", to which Gildarts nodded with a tiny grin on his face. Makarov sighed again, earning a chuckle from his fellow, and decided to tell him only a little bit about them :

"Well they lost their family. They were all alone, enjoying each other's company, and did what they can to survive in the wild world. I can't tell you how it happened, or what they went through though. That is up to them, and I don't think they want me to share their secret. I hope you understand pal. I'm afraid that is all you'd hear from me.", Makarov turned away from him, hoping Gildarts got the message. He was surprised however to hear Gildarts say :

"I understand, Gramps. That ain't my business. Now, they got a place that they can call home and a family. That's what matters. Whatever they went through, and judging by the way you talked about it I suppose that must've been really hard for them, now they can start a new life.", he smiled at him but Makarov hasn't noticed as he was looking away from him. Though he could feel that he smiled after hearing his answer, knowing full well that what Gildarts said was the truth. They had been given another chance, and Makarov would never let anyone spoil that chance. Gildarts put a hand on his shoulder and asked him, scratching the back of his head :

"But where are they right now ?", to which Makarov only shrugged.

"I've seen them coming out of the guild yesterday evening. I guess they needed time alone. But now I'm starting to get worri...", he didn't get to finish his sentence as Natsu stormed into the guild's hall, struggling to have his breath back. Erza was there as well, but was just too frightened to tell something. Everyone just stared at them in confusion, wondering what could have happened. Natsu and Erza were shaking violently in fear, goosebumps clearly noticeable. It was a matter before someone broke the silence.

"Hey, what happened to you fire breath ?", Gray shouted at him, snickering discretly seeing the attitude of the two. "Seen a monster or something ?", When he said that Gray began to laugh harder, clearly mocking them, to which Natsu merely scoffed. But he had no time to get involved in a fight right now, he needed to warn them.

"I sensed something in the forest near Magniola. And whatever it was, it certainly felt awful and so evil that it was sending shivers down my spine. What I know is, evil people are coming this way and I think they're really powerful, Master...", he looked at Makarov, who raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Erza quickly confirmed as she stuttered, the words having problem to escape her mouth : "They were people screaming in the forest, and by the way it sounded... They were … hunting them...", she could barely hold it anymore as she collapsed on her knees, fear clearly written on her features. Tears were pouring down her face as flashbacks of her past began to haunt her, scaring her to no end. Ever since she has been enslaved, she was afraid it might happen again,that her past will catch up to her and scaring her forever.

Natsu was also very afraid, so much that he didn't hear Erza collapsing as he was frantically telling them to do something before this was too late. Her quiet sobs were picked by Natsu's enhanced hearing though, and he immediately stopped talking and ran to her side, quickly envelopping her in a tight hug, silently cursing himself for not having been able to hear her breakdown. She was still wary of people, and memories of her past were still fresh in her shattered mind. Natsu obviously figured that his presence was very soothing for her, ever since the sincere smile she gave to him when he proposed to her to choose her a surname. He knew that she _needed _someone, that she wanted to be loved again. Patting her back with his palm, Natsu quickly noticed that Erza has relaxed noticeably, and that made him relax too. He let go of her, and pressed his forehead against hers, locking eyes with her as he said :

"Hey, Erza. You're not alone anymore. Whatever is standing up to us, we will fight it. Together. You'll never be alone again. You know that right ?", Erza saw the burning intensity in his eyes, telling him that no matter what he'll be here. And that was more than enough. She smiled back at him and nodded her head, feeling much better than a few seconds ago. She mouthed a 'thank you' to which Natsu smiled, silently telling her that it was normal for friends to help each other. Natsu got up, and offered a hand to Erza to help her get up, which she gladly took. He hoisted her up and turned back to Makarov, waiting for him to tell what to do. Erza was standing next to her, her right hand still intertwined with Natsu's, waiting all the same.

Makarov was shocked at the two. One second they were scared to death and could barely stutter a word out of their mouth and the other here they were, waiting for him to tell orders. Somehow, Natsu and Erza being together seemed to give them strength to wash away their fears. Makarov inwardly smiled at that. But there were other matters right now. Hell yeah, he knew that if Natsu sensed something evil coming this way, there was no doubting him since he was a dragon slayer mage. But why were these people come here ? That greatly confused him. Something was telling that they were there for a reason. He just needed to find that reason. And they were killing people, that was more than a reason to stop them. He let out a loud sigh of frustration at the mere thought of mages killing people for no apparent reasons before he decided to speak :

"Alright, that clearly left us with only one choice : we have to stop them. Natsu said they were powerful so I guess we need to send the extra fire power too. Gildarts", he called and whenhe was sure he got his attention, he ordered : "Please take Laxus and Mystogan with you and go there at the forest. Try to be silent so you can figure out their abilities and weaknesses. Oh, and try to not cause too much damage.", wherever those three go, they're sending hell on the unlucky towns that might be around. Also, the Magic Council was pretty pissed with them already, so no need to anger them even further.

He didn't expect Natsu to speak however : "I should go with them.", everyone was staring at him in utter shock, even Erza who tightened her hold on Natsu's hand, telling that she really didn't like it. Natsu didn't let anyone argue with him as he continued : "They don't know where they are, and the forest near the city is very big. I have an enhanced sense of smell and I know the forest as if it was my own home. I think I could be an asset for that.", he finished firmly and gave a little squeeze on Erza's hand in an attempt to reassure as she stared at him in worry. He gave her a reassuring smile but before he could react she spoke hurriedly :

"Lemme come with you !", she stated firmly out of the blue, staring at him with determination. Natsu was her best friend, no way in life she's going to let him go into trouble. However Natsu shook his head slightly in a negative gesture.

"No Erza, I can't risk you being hurt...", she opened her mouth to argue but Natsu beat her to it : "Look I am with three powerful mages that can destroy an entire town if they go all out. I promise to you I'm gonna be okay. And you've gone through so much... I don't want you to remember your childhood because of those bastards.. And they need me.. So please stay here...", Natsu said to him, silently begging for her to agree. He felt himself being hugged tightly by Erza, who for some reason had a very tight hold on him. She put her head in the crook, her breath gently brushing against his skin and making him shiver before she spoke :

"Just... Be careful okay ?", she said as she lifted her head to look into his eyes. Natsu smiled at her, she will be safe with the guild, and he won't have to worry about her being hurt. The mere thought of her being hurt sent already shivers of the worst fear he's ever felt before : so no way in hell will he allow something to happen to her.

"I will, Erza. I promise.", he kissed her forehead before going for the door before Makarov stopped him.

"Gildarts will make sure nothing happens to you. You listen to him, no matter what. Am I clear ?", he said sternly and Natsu could clearly tell he was being serious. He nodded at him just as seriously and then went for the door where the three mages were already waiting for him. The man who presented himself as Mystogan had a cloak hiding his face and was wearing a black coat that reached his knees. He had staffs of different kinds on his back, that Natsu assumed was the type of his magic he used. But even if Natsu couldn't see his face, he could notice a red tattoo on his left eye. It had weird symbols on it, as if there was more to it than just a simple tattoo. He shrugged away the thought however as he returned the greeting Mystogan was giving him and introducing himself as Natsu Dragneel. The other man known as Laxus didn't bother introducing himself. He was wearing a brown T-shirt with the symbol of Fairy Tail combined with lightning and black trousers. He had blond hair, green eyes with large scan on his left eye, probably caused from one of his previous fights. Natsu went to greet him, but before he could do anything, Laxus turned around to face him, slightly catching Natsu off guard. Laxus looked up and down before he stretched out his hand to shake Natsu's. Natsu shook his head firmly, which brought a smirk on Laxus' face sensing the strength of the child in front of him

"The name's Laxus, buddy. Ready to come along or maybe are you too scared to do so ?", he challenged him, his smirk never leaving his face.

Natsu just scowled playfully, as one of his trademark grin began to spread on his lips. "Well I better not, otherwise you gonna have one hell of a trouble to get out of that forest", Natsu replied back at him as his grin was spreading even further. Laxus chuckled in response. Oh yeah he's definetely liking the guy, he's got a temper much like him and seemed to not back down from a challenge. Oh yeah this is going to be interesting.

"C'mon guys, Let's go to that forest", Gildarts said as he began to walk towards it. Natsu, Laxus and Mystogan caught up with him and soon they were walking toward the forest where those bastards were.

* * *

-Somewhere in the forest of Magniola-

Lifeless bodies littered the floor, the smell making it hard to breathe so much the sight was disgusting. But surprisingly, there was absolutely no blood, just bodies without any flesh at all, as if something has taken away their souls. These poor people never had a chance against the dark mages wandering in the forest; they were ruthless, without any sense of pity or remorse, but with a sickening pleasure in taking human's lives. We are now with one of the dark mages, walking in the forest completely bored out of his mind. The man was known as Nikolai but was nicknamed Soul Reaper by his comrades, mostly because he had the ability to absorb any human's soul. He definetely love the sound of pleading for mercy and the sound of death coming over them when he began to eat their souls. But now no one was there to distract him. That angered him to no end.

" Damn it, there's nobody else here ?", he cursed, kicking a tree and smashing it in the process. Oh yeah he was definetely pissed.

Another cloaked figure made its appearance, talking in a horse voice. His body was scarred everywhere, and seemed as bored as the other one was. He was wearing shredded black clothes, partially covering his tattered and scarred chest. His pants were just as shredded as his other clothes and was bare footed. He looked at Nikolai with his piercing black eyes, and ran a hand through his red short hair in an attempt to calm himself down.

"Nikolai...", he began to whisper which the other ignored. That angered the man even more. He clenched his left fist calling out his magic and soon his fist was covered in black lightning. He waited for a seconds to let the man turn which he didn't so he reached toward him at blinding speed and hit him square in the back of his head, sending him through several trees. Nikolai grunted in pain from the punch his comrade just gave him and yelled :

"What the hell was that for, Orleon ?!", the man known as Orleon merely chuckled, mocking the other mage. This ticked him off as he lunged himself toward, engaging a fight with the other mage. The fight was harsh; each blow made the land shake, and shattering everything within a range of 50 square yards, leaving nothing but ashes. But soon another person made itself known; each step he was taking made the land shake, as if even the land was afraid of this man. He approached the two fighting mages, who stopped when they sensed him coming nearby and waited for him to talk. The unknown man took a few more steps, before stopping in front of the other two and looked with red slanted eyes. He spoke in a rather creepy that sent shivers down his comrades' spine :

"Let's accomplish what we came here for, people."

* * *

_**A/N :**** Alright ! Here's the chapter 4 ! Sorry for the long delay but school was really overwhelming me.. Who could have thought that so much homeworks can be given in one day... **_

_**As you can see, things are starting to get a little complicated there. Next chapter sure promises good fights with those people we don't know anything yet about. **_

_**Ah and I almost forgot : Laxus is very much friendlier as you already noticed and isn't gonna try to take the master's place. I'm more into the plot thing. Unknown ennemies planning something horrible and all. This is my stuff. **_

_**Well anyway, hope you liked it. Please don't forget to leave a review. All kinds of reviews would be appreciated. **_

_**Ps : I probably won't update as fast as I used to be. Especially that in that period of the year there's a lot going on and to deal with... I'll do my best. And I'll never leave this story. Just so you know it. **_


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